


All You Have Is Your Fire

by CenterAxisRelock



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Angry Sex, Blow Jobs, Cunnilingus, Dirty Talk, Drinking, F/M, Face-Sitting, Fight Sex, Hand Jobs, Hate Sex, Light BDSM, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Rival Sex, Rough Sex, Shower Sex, Spanking, Teasing, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-03-24 00:16:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 48,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13799343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CenterAxisRelock/pseuds/CenterAxisRelock
Summary: Thermite and Ash end up working out their mutual and personal frustrations during a late night sparring session. The event spirals into an irrevocably altered dynamic between the two operators, having to deal with the stress of their job and the insistent attraction between them.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've always shipped these two, but those Outbreak cinematics? Color me shook, they both are fucking gorgeous and have great chemistry. Still can't get over how handsome Thermite turned out to be. So I had to throw something together for the FBI power couple.

Eliza was working out her frustrations on the punching bag. Her knuckles had started to hurt an hour ago, yet she was still throwing out combinations, wishing her fists would connect to someone’s flesh instead of the material.  Though her wish would likely be a futile one since it was well past 10 pm and, to her knowledge, she was the only one in the Rainbow training facility. Besides, she’d likely have problems finding a sparring partner anyway, Ash was infamous for taking training bouts maybe a bit too seriously and once had gotten in a major scrap with Mira about her allegedly trying to injure the Spanish operator. And now, being in the mood she was in, she would probably have to be pulled off someone.

The reason for her discontent was an operation from which team Rainbow had just returned from, about 14 hours ago in South America. It was a simple, by the book hostage rescue , going up against the local criminal enterprise. The plan was blunt but effective, gather intel via drones, shock and awe with her taking the point, blowing out doors, blinding the opposition with flashbangs and smoke grenades, putting the bad guys in body bags and getting the people home. But Thermite, in his infinite wisdom, decided to make his own point of entry, bringing along Buck (the two had become buddies, bonding over beer and sports references).  The Texan blew out the entire floor above the bad guys while the Quebecois put his shotgun to work. Cooperation on forced entry apparently knows no borders. The two of them popped the tangos from above before the bastards had taken their safeties off.

Now, the plan wasn’t bad. And it worked. The problem was, it wasn’t hers. And he didn’t bother to share his divergent path of ideas with her, before the operation. Had it been anyone else, Ash wouldn’t take it to heart. But they both were FBI people, operated together before for quite a while and Ash really thought they had formed a good rapport. So either he didn’t trust her or he wanted to be the go to guy when it comes to FBI’s actions on team Rainbow. The former assumption disappointed her a great deal, the latter simply infuriated her. She had her ideas about Jordan: she knew he was ambitious and under that macho cowboy persona hid a deeply intelligent and cunning man. If anyone would try to undermine her position in team Rainbow, it was him. Castle was too focused on his tasks at hand and Pulse was too quiet and unassuming. Thermite, however, was obviously used to being the alpha male and Eliza wondered whether, in his view, she had stepped on his toes.

As she kept landing quick one-two punch combos on the boxing bag, she heard slow steps coming from the doorway. Eliza assumed it was one of the janitors and as she turned around to politely ask  the worker to give her some space, she found herself flushing with anger as the figure revealed itself to be the very damn Texan she didn’t want to see at all.

Thermite gave her a curt nod and the „’Liza” came off less like a greeting than a blunt acknowledgement. The former marine looked over the training room before nailing his gaze to her. His bright blue eyes looked tired, but still focused. The man was powerfully built with broad shoulders, however he still came off as very agile on his feet. She noted that his hair was disheveled and covered in sweat – and greying, too much too early for a man in his mid-thirties, which meant that he wasn’t nearly as laid back as he wanted to make himself seem. He still hadn’t shaved, perhaps he wasn’t planning to, Eliza could see him taking some stupid bet with Buck and Blackbeard, involving facial hair. He was wearing a grey Dallas Cowboys shirt, which she found more obnoxious than necessary. It looked soaked with sweat, indicating that he had spent quite a time here either lifting weights or doing cardio.

„Jordan.” She responded matter-of-factly, reserving her smile. „Anyone else here?” Ash wanted an excuse to leave the room.

„Nah. I’ve been in the weight room alone for the past 2 hours. I guess the others chose to be reasonable and take a day off.” From the sound of his tone, Jordan wasn’t in a great mood either. He peeked at the punching bag over her shoulder. „You’ve been working the poor bastard  there the whole time?”

Eliza crossed her arms. „Didn’t find any live targets. Gotta take what you can get.”

Jordan was silent for a while, examining her face. To her dismay, she felt like he could read her, could tell she was worked up despite her trying to maintain a detached exterior.

„You bored?”

„My knuckles aren’t, but at this point I can’t say I’m terribly excited about hitting something that can’t hit back.”

Jordan ran a hand over his bearded cheek. „You know, I’m kinda sick of picking up and putting down weights. Kinda want to get loose before driving home. Help me get a few shots in?”

Eliza raised her eyebrows. „What makes you think you’ll hit me?”

Jordan gave her half-a-smirk. „You may have the benefit of a warm up, but don’t get cocky, Cohen.” He used her surname when he wanted to wind her up. It worked.

„Get your gloves on.” She responded to the challenge. As he leaned down to an equipment locker nearby, Ash took the opportunity to glance at his hands, missing the usual tape. Despite being furious at him, she didn’t want him to catch her staring. In reality, Thermite didn’t give a shit about people staring at his burn scars, he took pride in them as if they were a mark of a warrior, joked about that any scar that doesn’t damage „his pretty face” was irrelevant. They even weren’t that bad, but stood out when he was wearing anything with sleeves above the elbow. Eliza wondered for a moment how much his ability to feel through his hands was damaged.

Jordan stood up, gloves on. He let off a few punches towards thin air, shadow boxing. Ash knew approximately how he fought, he was strong and surprisingly fast, focusing on precise and powerful punches. His only flaw was occasionally leaving his body open for shots, something Ash was hopeful to exploit.

„You ready?” He barked, determined. Ash was unwavering, assuming her stance. They didn’t touch gloves.

They started off with a regular pace. Thermite ate her punches easily, as she predicted, establishing his obvious size and weight advantage. She wanted to wear him off and get him with precise jabs, quick enough so he couldn’t gather himself and would end up going for a takedown, relying on his size rather than skill. She would consider that a victory.

„So what’s wrong with you?” Jordan muttered after blocking a few of her punches.

„I’m aiming to incapacitate you. Something new?” Ash responded by dodging his right hook.

„I can tell when someone’s just blowing off steam and when someone’s pissed off about something. So out with it.” Jordan responded, fists in the air, watchful as ever.

Eliza stayed silent for a moment. Her anger and adrenaline led to a decision. „Yeah. I have a few things I want to talk about.” Rapid body shot. Thermite blocked it with effort.

Before she could continue, he popped her near the left ear. „You disapproved on my approach last time.” Jordan stated, in between rapid breaths.

Eliza didn’t betray pain. „Honestly, yes. I think it was unprofessional and disruptive.”

Jab, jab, left cross. He was trying to take her off guard. „Can’t see nothing unprofessional about it. We brought out the hostages and schwacked all the targets. Professional as possible, in my opinion.”

Eliza shot back, both verbally and with a kick to his knee. „Yours wasn’t the plan we agreed on.”

Jordan ate it with a slight wince. „If not for my plan, there might’ve have been a heap of dead civvies with you receiving a bullet, face first.”

Ash paused, affected by his remark more than she wished to. „So you don’t trust my approaches?”

„I don’t think your approaches take in account all variables.”

Eliza flushed in anger. He was lucky. Any other situation, he would’ve ended up with dead hostages on his hands. Any issues with the entry, the civilians would get executed. He had the situation working for him, yes, but he couldn’t possibly rely on it being the same next time. Ash thought that he wasn’t nearly as adaptable as her. She landed a kick on the side, right at the liver. He reacted, grimacing in pain. Rainbow operators didn’t usually try to hurt each other during sparring. But Jordan was no gentleman. If a woman was capable of injuring him, he didn’t hold back. So Eliza received a rapid one-two punch, one in her stomach area, the other right in her face. Not full force, but strong enough to sting, for a considerable while.

Ash tried to catch her breath. „So, that’s  why you ignored my orders?” They circled around one without advancing, as if preparing for a showdown.

Jordan frowned, his hands placed in a position as if he expected to catch her next punch and counter it instantly. „First of all, you don’t fucking order me. Second of all, this was the ideal way to pop the tangos without endangering civilians AND teammates. I’d  execute it again in a heartbeat.”

Ash dodged his half-heated right cross and sighed „I’m always for prioritizing civilian lives. But you should inform me about your plans, every time. Otherwise, what’s the point of a joint structure of information?”

„Okay, I’ll prepare notes for a lengthy debate next time we’re setting up for entry.”

Eliza’s anger rose. „Might not be a next time if you keep ignoring the plan of action.”

„When’s the funeral?”

 „What funeral?”

„I mean, apparently Six died and put you in charge.”

„Idiot.”

The clock ticked closer to 11 pm. Now they were engaged in full on combat. Thermite ate body shots like candy, but a good kick to the torso could force him to pause. Only a quick and dirty fighter could have a shot of taking him off his game. Ash couldn’t afford to trade blows so, so she used her agility and smaller size to dodge his punches. He was stronger but getting tired and Ash had the benefit of anger on her side.

Eliza was fast and, as she prided herself, one of the best female fighters on Team Rainbow, but it was difficult overcoming his obvious size and strength advantage, coupled with frightening speed she was surprised he possessed.  But she never felt like he humored her; he took the sparring seriously and she appreciated that.  Thermite certainly wouldn’t let his pride get wounded by getting beat by anyone, so he increased the intensity of his assault on her, punctuated by a particularly nasty elbow against her ear.

Jordan grinned, looking like a feral wolf, and licked his lips after her jab landed on his chin. _Girl is a goddamn firecracker_. They had developed somewhat of a rivalry, not a personal one like Eliza had with Elena, but they both wanted to be the go-to person for Rainbow’s FBI unit and both felt like the best candidate for the job. He thought Eliza was too self-centered while she saw him as too impulsive.

Ash, feeling as if another one of his barrages will seriously hurt her, went for a clinch. He responded, stable and strong, squeezing her torso and arm in a deadlock. They both used this moment to catch their breaths, trying to read the other’s position and a potential exit. All they could smell was sweat. Eliza felt his beard scratch against her cheek. He squeezed her arm tighter.

Suddenly, she felt his hot breath on her ear. „You should get angry more often.” It was a low whisper that took her off guard, and the next second she was on the floor, immobilized.

Ash was pressed right under him and Jordan felt himself twitch. He tried to throw it out of his mind. It’s not like it had been a while for him, quite the opposite: from his experience if you imply to a girl that you’re high tier military affiliated, she’s practically dragging you to a motel room by your hair. But something about Eliza got to him. And his bottled up frustrations after a successful but risky operation begged to be released in some way. He had thought the sparring would do but it didn’t seem to work.

Ash was struggling. On the ground he had a major strength advantage.  He held her arms in a vice like grip and she had little to no options. In a real life or death fight, she would’ve bitten out his jugular, but Six would probably get upset about one of her operators bleeding out during sparring.

She paused. He was close, real close. Her thigh was pressed against his groin and she could feel his cock through his sweatpants. Wasn’t the first time, grappling with men tend to involve somewhat awkward contact, but she usually concentrated on the fight. Now it seems like things were anything but detached.

Truth to be told, she wanted to get laid. All that stress, risk and frustration on the field often resulted in extremely high libidos for military operators and she was no exception. Ash engaged in casual sex somewhat often, nearly all of her sexual encounters over the past two years had been one night stands, though she had trouble finding a guy who would thoroughly satisfy her and her fiery nature that carried over to the bedroom. And Thermite, while often frustrating her with no end, was unquestionably attractive, and she had a feeling he was the type that never said no to sex. Ash always appreciated men who were intelligent and competent while retaining a certain rough masculine energy she always felt drawn to. And Jordan had that in spades.

„You’ve lost. Tap out.” Jordan’s growl brought her back to reality.

Her rational, professional side, the usually dominant one, told her she should agree and go shower and dress. But that side seemed to be losing right now. „Why? I’m perfectly comfortable. Aren’t you?” She ever so slightly pressed her thigh deeper into his crotch, though subtle enough to make it seem like an innocent move, well, as innocent as you could make while stuck in a grapple. But he knew that she knew.

„Want me to choke you out?” The room was silent, but his voice was barely above a whisper. Ash hoped he didn’t notice her shiver a little.

„Bet you’ve thought about it.” She could feel Jordan’s breathing still for a moment. Ash felt the aroma of sweat on the skin of his neck. His shirt was soaked. For a moment, she weighed her options. He would either get confused, tell her to fuck off and make their future in Rainbow hopelessly uncomfortable. Or he’d pick up whatever she was putting down. Either way, she felt  angry and turned on enough to toss the professionalism out of the window.

„The fuck you mean?” He was feigning innocence, but the tone of his voice, breathing, not to mention his growing erection showed that his intentions were anything but innocent.

„I can feel you getting hard, Jordan.” She whispered, letting her lips ever so slightly touch his ear.

Thermite raised his head to look at her. His bright blue eyes were hazed with desire. She wriggled her right hand and he released it. Eliza brought her hand between them and let it slide down his still clothed torso. She squeezed him through his pants, gently at first, then more intently. Ash swallowed loudly. Thermite certainly didn’t disappoint. She wanted to feel him without his sweatpants, no barriers, no bullshit.

Meanwhile, Jordan hadn’t broken her gaze. His throat was dry and he was rapidly growing harder under her touch. He wanted to pin her down, rip her clothes off and fuck her like she’s never had it before, fuck her in the most primal of ways, he wanted her to scream and wipe the air of control off her face. But something told him that following her lead would be more fun. Not to mention, the two operators were still in the middle of the floor of the Team Rainbow CQC training room. She could just be trying to work him up.

The Texan zoned out while fantasizing, still feeling her hand on his crotch, and, before he could react, he realized that he had completely weakened his grip on her and in the matter of a second Ash had reversed their positions.

Thermite couldn’t help but chuckle at the turn of events. „You give all your sparring partners handjobs to escape a grapple?”

She threw a stray of her red hair out of her face. „No, only the only one who can’t control his dick when fighting a woman. Besides, Jordan, if I gave you a handjob, you’d know it.”

Thermite’s chest was deeply rising and falling again, though he wore a smirk on his face. „Go ahead, go home then. I yield,” he said in a deeply mocking manner. And tapped twice against her thigh for effect, each time leaving his fingers there longer than necessary.

„What makes you think I want to leave?”

„Because you’re too chickenshit to do this thing more than halfway, Cohen. You’re scared someone’s gonna crack that facade.”

„You’re not even gonna come close.”

Eliza ran her hand under his shirt, touching his abdominals, threading through the hair on his chest. They enjoyed pushing and prodding each other on the field, competition brought out the best in them and they loved the challenge. This, however, was completely uncharted territory.

Their eyes met. „You want to fuck me, Jordan?”

„Yes.”

She finally pulled him out of his sweatpants and took him in hand. Thermite gave off a subtle smirk, fully knowing he more than satisfied her. Ash enjoyed having something to work with and she appreciated that one of those Texas stereotypes applied to him.

She ran her fingers along his length. Eliza saw him tense up, his breathing quickened. The redhead licked her palm, squeezed him and picked up the pace, running her hand around his thick cock, observing his reactions. Jordan closed his eyes and whispered something that she didn’t quite pick up on but that surely was filthy. He was throbbing and she wanted to taste him. Jordan opened his eyes, dazed with desire when seeing her slide down his body with a look that was both determined and devilish. She ran her tongue along the length of his shaft and took him in her mouth, humming in appreciation about how damn good he felt. Jordan’s fingers tangled in her red hair, his self-assured detached front was rapidly crumbling.

As Eliza worked his throbbing cock, she registered that she herself was practically dripping. She released his cock from her mouth, licking off the threads of saliva from her lips. Jordan couldn’t hold back his groan of frustration. „Fucking hell, why’d you…”

„I’m not doing this for your benefit.” Ash assumed a commanding tone. „Now take your shirt off.”

„You first.” Thermite wasn’t going to back off without a fight.

„You aren’t in any position to make demands.” Ash grabbed and squeezed his cock for emphasis, enjoying watching his breath hitch.

„You think I can’t tell how fucking wet you are?” Jordan wouldn’t budge. His words lit all kinds of fires inside Ash. She looked at the sweaty texan’s face and briefly thought about how good it would feel to mount it and make his mouth do something useful for a change.

Jordan watched as Eliza took off her black shirt, in a rather simple manner as if she was about to change it for another one, not fuck her colleague, but to him that was the sexiest fucking thing. Seconds later she bared her breasts, taking off the sports bra that was sticking to her sweat-slicked skin. Jordan dug his one hand into her thigh and balled the other in a fist. He was throbbing, barely holding back from throwing her against the mat and fucking the sense out of her.

„Now you.”

Jordan was busy admiring her breasts and had to snap himself back to situation at hand. Ash was downright fucking glorious. He always thought of her as sexy, but now he was growing insane with desire. He quickly threw off his shirt, hopeful that she’ll get on with it as his cock was begging for attention.

Eliza looked him over, not trying to hide her approval. She knew he was well built, but seeing and feeling him directly under her, rapidly breathing, thick chest, gleaming with sweat, rising and falling rhythmically, was another thing entirely. Ash quickly got out of her sweatpants and black panties, soaking wet at that point. Jordan looked at her, head to toe, swallowing hard at the sight of her cunt, lightly covered by red hair. „Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” Jordan breathed out.

Eliza shivered, hoping he didn’t notice. Hearing him address her like that was jarring and incredibly erotic. She ran her hand down his collarbone, through the dark hair on his chest, across his abdominals (slightly bruised from their earlier bout, she noted with satisfaction) and gripped his member. He didn’t say anything, his groan was enough and she wasn’t able to hold back either.  Ash sank down on his cock, biting her lip not to cry out, but failing. Jordan’s fingers dug into her thighs and ass when hearing her moan, hard enough to leave bruises. He watched her in rapt fascination. After a while, getting accustomed to his size, she began to ride him. Her red hair had loosened, strands falling in her face. Ash pressed a hand against his chest for balance, pulling on the thick hairs covering it. Jordan thought he’d rather die at that point than tear his eyes away from her. She looked like a goddamn warrior goddess.

„Fuck…fuck, that’s good…” He hoarsely whispered and ran his calloused hand over her body, squeezing her breasts.

Eliza picked up the pace, riding him faster, rougher. He started taking over as well, holding her hips in a vice-like grip, dragging her closer and closer to him, again and again with the kind of desperation like they were living on a borrowed time. The sound of their groans of pleasure and toned bodies, slapping skin on skin filled the room.

„Fuck, I’m close, Jordan, don’t mov-„

And with that, he flipped them over, coming on top and looming over her.

„What the fuck, Jordan, I told-„

„Shut up.” He switched to an authoritative tone despite being as desperate as she was. „You’re flexible, aren’t you, Cohen?”

She looked at his face, flushed with need, and eyes filled with dark intent, and couldn’t hold back anymore.

„Just fuck me, you…”

„Fuck me what? You’re gonna beg for it?” His hand slid to her throat and squeezed a little. God, she wanted him to do the worst things to her.

„Fuck me or I swear, I’m going to kill you.” Ash grabbed a handful of his dark, greying hair and pulled for emphasis.

He chuckled, a low rumble emanating from his chest. „That’s my girl.”

With that he slammed deeply into her, continuing in hard, relentless and quick thrusts, making her lose her mind, crying out unabashedly and scratching her trimmed nails down his wide shoulders and back. Jordan’s lips touched her flesh for the first time as he made bites along her neck, flicking each with his tongue.

Jordan  was close, but he’d be damned it he didn’t hear Ash come before he did. He grabbed a hold of her leg and bent it against her chest, fucking her as deep and hard as possible, wanting the redhead to come apart in front of him.

Eliza was right on the brink of her climax, breathless and loud. „Right there, fuck, don’t you stop, don’t you, Jordan, _please_ …”

He wouldn’t dare disappoint. And like that, she was over the edge. Like a wild animal, Eliza was bucking under him, scratching and grabbing a hold of his skin, his hair, unable to control herself. Jordan was still relentless in his thrusts, but couldn’t hold on for long.

„’Liza, I’m…fuck...” And he joined her, riding out his orgasm in deep thrusts. He collapsed on top of Ash, momentarily ghosting his lips over hers, but ultimately resting his face beside her head.

They laid like that for a minute, catching their breaths with sweat cooling on their bodies until Jordan registered that he is probably far more comfortable than she is and rolled off.

Ash, meanwhile, deciding which limb she could afford to move first, somewhat missed his body heat. They were stretched out side by side on the soft mat, not touching each other and internally contemplating, with good humor, how the scene would look from the viewpoint of some poor colleague walking in.

The scene indeed was growing awkward by the second. Jordan cleared his throat and tossed her his discarded T-Shirt, in the absence of towels. _What a gentleman_ , she mused.

„If there are cameras in here, I’ll kill you.” She wanted to clear the air with humor.

The Texan shot her a smirk. „If there are cameras here, I’m asking for the footage.”

She snorted in amusement, though the air was still uncomfortable. „Listen, Jordan, I…”

„Save it.” Thermite looked at her, both authoritative and understanding. „I’ll see you in training.”

And like that, he walked off to the showers. Ash was silently thankful to him for taking off and sparing them the awkward small talk.  She looked at the stupid Cowboys shirt in her hands. Soaked in sweat, it smelled distinctly like him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few weeks later, Thermite and Ash embark on another op, this time with no less interesting consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This came way faster than I thought it would. Hope y'all enjoy this. Smutty third chapter arriving shortly. Also, good luck to everyone in Operation Chimera, starting this week!

A movement behind the wall. Slow, but not silent enough.

Ash never got to see the target, but she didn’t need to. She squeezed the trigger, aiming at the wall, sensing the location of the enemy and the sound of a body hitting the floor signified that she guessed right.

She heard the familiar and welcomed sound of an exothermic charge lighting up. A deafening sound punished her eardrums, but she managed to hear a flashbang comparatively softly hitting the floor, bouncing around and going off, followed by loud exclamations in Pashto that she recognized as swearing. The tangos were concerned with other matters, so she could turn the corner and enter the room. Ash leaned in and examined the room through the doorway. Suddenly, she saw a 180 pound Texan jumping out of seemingly nowhere from the ceiling and landing on an enemy below. The man, her fellow FBI operator, pulled out a M45 handgun and, without hesitation, blew a hole in the head of the poor bastard under him, splattering brain matter on the floor. Ash immediately registered another target in the furthest corner of the room and aimed for the head, since she was sure he was wearing a vest. Her target was dead before he got the chance to realize he was in combat.

Her colleague, knowing he doesn’t need to be concerned about his right flank, dropped down on his back and raised his pistol against the last tango in the room. He squeezed the trigger twice, the second time just to make sure. As the last body dropped on the ground, Ash entered the secured room. In her peripheral vision she saw the rest of her teammates, the French tech expert Twitch, the bearded Navy SEAL Blackbeard and the pragmatic Quebecois Buck enter the room with her.

Thermite stood up from his laying position with one fluid motion, using only his legs and circled the room with his pistol drawn. „Clear. All targets down.”

„That’s a clean sweep then.” Ash chimed in next to him. She turned to Twitch. „Radio it in to Command and tell them they can send in a unit to turn this place around for intel.”

The brunette nodded and pulled out a phone. This was a good op, almost too easy. Whoever gets to raid this place for intel will be grateful, though maybe not for the smell of the dead bodies.

Speaking of which, there were many. „Good fucking job, team.” The Canadian next to her uttered. She had grown to like the man, at first he seemed a tad too unpredictable, but his banter amused her, and Buck was one hell of a capable killer.

„Didn’t see you in the room though.” Thermite finally spoke, taking off his helmet and googles, revealing his tired but focused blue eyes. „It’s okay though, Americans are used to taking care of everyone’s shit.” He said with a smirk, shooting a knowing stare towards Blackbeard as well.

„Whatever you say, buddy. Just thank Ash here for covering your ass when you decided to go all John Wick at the end there.” The Canadian never missed a chance to hit back.

„We all cover each other’s ass. That’s a non-factor.” The broad-shouldered Texan smiled at Buck and turned to Eliza. „So we’re off?”

„Better sooner than later, you established comms, Twitch?” Ash saw the French woman nod. „Okay then, shouldn’t be long,  our chopper is a few clicks away in the woods.

„Good. I’m going out for a cigarette.” Thermite replied. „Anyone else coming?”

It was a question born out of politeness. Buck had stopped smoking a decade ago, Blackbeard was a fitness enthusiast who only allowed himself a cigarette when drunk and Twitch enjoyed the vice of smoking only in the pleasant _café_ s Paris. _Très chic._

Ash, however, had less limits on her vices, so she went out to follow her FBI teammate. They passed a lot of dead bodies, saying nothing, but silently admiring their work. The fuckers had no idea what hit them and from where. It was almost unfair, but they weren’t in the business of fair fights.

After a minute they had reached their entry point and she watched Thermite pull out a pack of Marlboros from one of his many pockets, offering one to her before she could protest about having her own. She took it, observing his lithe motion of giving her a Zippo light and then lighting his own.

„Think they’ll find some useful shit in there?” Thermite asked after a deep inhale of smoke.

„Probably.”  Ash replied, taking a drag of her own. „I saw a lot of laptops.”

„It’s a good thing Six doesn’t make us clean this shit up. Would surely be a lot more work than we just had to do.” Thermite was smug.

„We’re way past the pay grade of lifting laptops around. Nice stunt there, by the way.”

Jordan’s eyes lit up as he squeezed the cigarette between his lips. „Huh, you liked it, right? The fuckers didn’t even realize which part of the ceiling was coming open. Light work.”

Ash still made sure she gave herself full credit. „Just make sure you remember I cleared your right flank.”

Her partner laughed abruptly. „What, that asshole? He was too busy shitting his pants and trying to see where to point his rifle. You stole that kill from me.”

Eliza rolled her eyes. They hadn’t talked about what happened between them in the CQC training area a few weeks ago. Nevermind that Eliza still recalled it quite often and tried to push the thoughts away. Nevermind that she kept remembering how deliciously sore she was afterwards. Jordan hadn’t mentioned anything after that and neither had she. They talked a lot less than before, even avoided eye contact unless absolutely necessary, but it was a better alternative than talking about whatever pleasant mess they got themselves into not so long ago.

Jordan was comfortable to work with, more than Ash expected. Of course, he wanted her again, every time he saw her or even recalled her name. Filthy thoughts consumed Jordan every time he saw Ash leaned over a desk in a way that accentuated her ass just right, or wearing a tight shirt, or brushing back that goddamn red hair with her hand. But he was first and foremost a professional. Thermite wouldn’t push her if she wouldn’t ask, he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. The man respected her immensely, probably more than any other operator on the team. An Israeli coming to America for the first time in her college years, she had spent only a bit less than a decade here but through her ambition, talent and work ethic managed to become one of the top operators not only in the country, but in the world. Hell of a thing. Their working relationship was extremely important for Team Rainbow. All humility aside, they were some of the most vital people on the team. The established order was necessary for an effective functioning of the team and the order wouldn’t work if two of its most important American operators would put their libidos before team cohesion.

But now, watching the redhead as she took a drag from her cigarette, maybe now was the time to say something about it. They were alone, the stress of the operation was still in their systems along with the sense of triumph of its success, maybe she wanted it just as much as he did, maybe…

The sharp blades of the helicopter, whizzing through the brisk air of Afghanistan’s forests, interrupted his train of thought. Soon the rest of the team joined the FBI pair.

„So, we’re having drinks, right?” Blackbeard’s gruff but cheerful voice interrupted the silence.

Jordan grinned at him. „Of course, just maybe this time don’t pass out after the first three rounds. American’s can’t drink properly.”

„I don’t think that’s exactly what happened, maybe your memory is hazy, I wouldn’t hold it against you, you had enough liquor last time to kill an elephant.” The DEVGRU operator shot back with a smile.

„You’re right about that, frogman. Tell you what, let’s hold another contest back at base? Careful though, you already lost one right here.” Thermite said rather smugly, being sure he had more bodies on him in this op than Craig. He was rather proud of the fact, since the SEAL was one of the best marksmen on the team.

 „Big talk, Trace. Hopefully for all of us, you’ll manage to shut your mouth for a second during the helicopter ride.”

Thermite obliged him now, though with no wish to do so later. They all proceeded to the helicopter, which was hovering a few feet away from the ground.

Ash tapped Thermite’s shoulder. „American’s can’t drink? You’re American.”

The man smiled. „Sure, but I’m also Irish.”

Ash snorted, astounded by the man's logic. „You’re Irish when it suits you.”

* * *

 

Nearly a day had passed and the team was back in their US base of operations. As the clocked on the wall ticked closer to 0100 hours, Thermite’s 12th shot glass hit the table. The Texan slapped the surface of the table in rabid bravado and borderline roared at the bearded Navy SEAL in front of him, who held his own shot glass in a shaking hand. The other American drew in a sharp breath and downed it, to his credit. Most of the team wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace. But Blackbeard quickly excused himself with a smoke break, stumbling on the way outside, likely to empty some of his stomach contents.

The five operator team had been drinking for quite a while now. Other than them, the mess hall was empty, the regular workers and the „canon fodder”, as Jordan liked to call the recruits, didn’t want to get in their way, while their other Rainbow comrades in arms where scattered only Six knows where. The team rarely hung around idle at home base. Most of them were either on different assignments, training or taking time off between missions. There was no need for the other talented operators to stand by while they could be on so many missions all over the world.

Ash was emptying her beer bottle, the count of which she had long forgotten. The FBI operator had engaged in a long conversation with Twitch, who was enjoying a vodka on the rocks, which started about politics and ended up in a lengthy debate about whether The Wire was better than The Sopranos. But halfway there she started to pay attention to the drinking contest with interest. Few men, mostly Russian, could drink like Thermite could. A reasonable outcome of his impressive physique and heritage, but still, intriguing.

Finally, after seemingly having disappeared for hours, Buck came inside the mess hall with a bag of ice in his left hand and a bottle of scotch in the other. „Hey, guys, I think Craig isn’t feeling so well.” The Canadian exclaimed with a tone of amusement. „Anyone wants to join me on my search party? As much as he annoys me, I’d rather he not pass out on the floor of the bathroom.”

Twitch briefly gazed at Ash and stood up, stretching out her tired limbs. „Sure, I feel like going for a walk. Let’s go, Sebastien.”

The bearded man looked at the Frenchwomen with drunken enthusiasm and dropped the bag of ice on their table, littered with bottles and glasses. They both walked away, engaging in laughter, funnily enough, not exactly towards the path Blackbeard was stumbling at and Ash noted that Buck had kept the bottle of scotch. The FBI operator smirked to herself. She sensed that Twitch liked the older Canadian, his rough, simple method of operating was a nice contrast to her clean cut style and, as Ash herself recognized, he unquestionably was handsome. Buck himself liked to lightheartedly flirt with a lot of the female operators, but she had picked up that he has a thing for brunettes. She had expected such an escapade to happen. Such a French thing to sleep with your colleague.

Eliza was snapped out of her thoughts by the sharp crack of a bottle. She looked at Jordan and saw the man opening up a fresh bottle of Jameson, filling up his formerly empty shot glass. He was drunk, no doubt, but still very focused in his movements.

„So, seems like Navy Santa is lying on a cold floor somewhere.” Jordan mused. „And I’m only half buzzed. Such a shame. I wanted to see him pass out on the table, the cocky motherfucker.” The man downed the shot in front of him.

Eliza was quite inebriated, but still convinced of herself. „Do you take replacements?”

Jordan looked at her with an amused gaze. Ash was dragging circles over the neck of her beer bottle. His eyes followed her fingers for a second and then rapidly looked away. She pretended not to notice.

„I mean, I must have like 60 pounds on you…then again, you’ve been sticking to that pisswater they have here for most of the night, so you have your advantages too.” Ash nodded at all of his conclusions and took a quick swig to empty her beer bottle.

Jordan ran a hand over his untrimmed beard, now grown quite a bit. „But let’s make it more fun, shall we?”

„What, some variation of strip poker, I presume?” Ash asked, clearly amused. She was a bit more drunk that she presumed.

Jordan chuckled and looked her mischievously. „That would actually be preferable, but I don’t consider myself lucky enough to get you to agree. No, it goes like this: I ask you a question. About whatever, it can be provocative, it can be dirty, whatever. Now, you don’t have to answer. But if you decide to skip a question, you take a shot. The winner…well, I guess who gets the most shitfaced has the least balls. So, you in, Cohen?”

Ash was in before he finished explaining her the rules. „Damn sure I’m in. Better than getting drunk alone.”

Jordan winked at her and took two shot glasses, filled them to the brim with the brown liquid and placed one in front of him and one in front of her.

„Ladies first.” Thermite smirked smugly and leaned back with his arms crossed.

Ash returned his smirk, studying his crossed arms for a brief moment, noting that he had put on a quite expensive Omega watch on his left wrist.

„Okay, then. I’ll start off easy. Why’d you join this team?”

Jordan frowned. „The same reason most of the team did. It’s a challenge, a chance to prove your long honed skills in the most dangerous game in the world. Naturally, I was trained to kill and wanted to utilize my talents. You don’t really kill often in the FBI. I assume the world has kicked the idealism out of everyone here, before they had even been considered as candidates. Except maybe the French. But those have always been a weird bunch.” Ash quietly appraised his answer, nodding. His pragmatic cynicism makes sense, she thought. She never saw Thermite as the world-changing knight with goodness in his heart.

Ash crossed her own arms as well and met his gaze. Jordan continued. „Satisfied, I assume? My turn then. What color panties are you wearing?”

Eliza laughed out loud, but managed to control it before bursting into proper hysterics. „Wow, Jordan, left field, much?”

The man shrugged. „That’s the point of the game, to ask questions you wouldn’t want to answer. We could sit there and I’d tell you for hours why I chose this job, how many people I’ve killed, how many regulations I’ve broken, where I’ve been shot. I’m sure you would too. But then the whiskey would dry up.” He smirked. „So, answer or drink.”

Eliza wasn’t gonna come off as chickenshit. „Red.” She lied.

„Fuck off. Prove it.”

„Hey now, the rules didn’t say I have to prove anything.”

Jordan ran his fingers through his greying hair, looking off his game for a moment. Eliza loved that look.

„Satisfied?” She asked. The air was filling with excitement and tension. „Of course you are. Now me. How’d you get the scars?” She nodded towards his arms, indicating what she meant. Eliza always had wanted to know and the booze inside her gave her the nerve to ask.

Thermite was silent and didn’t move for a moment. Ash felt a pang of guilt, like maybe she shouldn’t have inquired and should’ve stuck to a stupid sex question.  After all, she had no idea how much of an issue this was for the man. But then he shrugged. And emptied the shot glass in front of him.

„You sure know how to kill the mood, Cohen.” Thermite remarked. „I’m afraid it’s not a terribly enjoyable story, neither a funny one. But so be it. What’s your position on Palestine?”

Ash widened her eyes. „What the fuck kind of question is that, Jordan?”

„Pro Jordan or against?” Thermite was barely containing his laughter.

„You’re such an idiot.” She took down the whiskey in one swig. „Okay, let’s ask an even dumber question. Out of all operators on the team, _excluding_ the ones in this room, who’d you rather sleep with?”

Jordan smirked, pleased that she finally understood the point of the game. „Pereira.”

Ash laughed abruptly. „Cav? She would eat you alive.”

„That’s the point.” Jordan’s eyes gleamed. „Between you and me, I think she enjoys her knife games a bit too much. But, god, I wouldn’t say no.”

Ash shrugged and nodded, understanding his pick. Thermite continued. „Okay then. Let’s kill the elephant in the room. Few weeks ago, back in the training facility. Did you want to fuck me before, or was it a spur of the moment thing?” Jordan was slurring his words slightly, but his gaze was focused and challenging.

Ash honestly didn’t know the answer to the question. She didn’t want to say that she had wondered about it before, not to give him the satisfaction, but saying it was just a momentary whim would be an obvious lie. So she let the whiskey warm her up. Jordan grinned but she could tell he wanted her to answer.

„What about you? Were you fantasizing about me before?” Eliza swung one of her legs up, in an almost innocent manner and placed the boot next to his thigh on his chair.

Jordan was unwavering in his confidence. „Truth is, yes and no. I’ve always thought you were attractive, noticed it from the first moment I saw you back in Quantico, in the shooting range where you tried oh so desperately to beat the top score. I knew that if you would offer, I would’ve taken you up on that in a blink of an eye. But then we were put together on the same team and it would make work uncomfortable.” He ran a hand across his bearded jaw. „But I didn’t jerk off to you in the shower, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Ash smirked at the mental image. Thermite dropped one his arms to his side and put his hand on her boot. „My turn. The million dollar question. Do you want to fuck now?” He squeezed her ankle through the boot.

Ash didn’t react visibly, and pretended to ponder the question for a few seconds. They both knew that her feelings on the subject were obvious. „Why not? I could blow off some steam.” Despite answering the question clearly, she took her full shot glass and emptied it.

Thermite wore a half-a-grin, knowing that they had a way better game in mind now. He put his own glass to his lips and emptied it without grimacing. „I mean, I wouldn’t protest, but I assume you don’t want to do it in the middle of the table?”

Ash wasn’t quite sure she’d protest either, but she let her rational side take over. „My room. The floor is nearly empty, Meghan and Monika are off duty, Elias is a tight sleeper and I have no idea where our dear FBI companions are, but I haven’t seen them for a few days.”

Thermite listened to her and nodded, his heartbeat quickening a bit. Very unlikely that someone was going to disturb them.

„Okay then.” The Texan stood up and stretched his neck. „Lead the way.”

Eliza swung her leg off his chair and nodded towards a hallway leading to a staircase. She noticed he had grabbed a whiskey bottle to take with them.

„Careful with that, Jordan.” She teased. „You’ve already had quite a bit and I don’t want to get all worked up for nothing.”

Thermite smirked, his bravado intact. „Keep talking, Cohen. I’d pass out long before that ever happened.” He took a full swig and handled the liquor to her. Ash happily mimicked him. She wasn’t nervous or anything, but she knew that the more alcohol she has right now, the more likely it is to avoid the ensuing awkwardness the next day, knowing you can write it all off on being under the influence.

Ash and Thermite passed Jenson’s room and heard snoring. For a second their eyes locked and they couldn’t hold back their amusement, laughing silently.

„So much for him being a fish, I thought those Navy boys could drink!” The former Marine, proud of the branch he chose to serve for, snickered.

„Give him a break, he went up against a Southerner and an Irishman in the same body.”

Thermite couldn’t help but feel a jolt of pride. „I have a feeling you could keep up though.”

Eliza turned her head towards him and grinned. „I spent a college semester in Boston. I bet I could.”

Jordan took another swig from the bottle. „Boston, huh? Bet you’re one of those Patriots bandwagoners?”

Eliza laughed. „No, I don’t care much for football. I do like the Celtics though.”

Thermite nodded approvingly. „Celtics are great this year. Might even kick the shit out of Warriors.”

As they ascended the stairs to her room, the two operators chatted a bit about basketball teams, to Jordan’s surprise, Eliza proved quite knowledgeable about the NBA. While they were arguing about whether the Eastern conference playoffs were unfairly easy in comparison to the West, she stopped in her tracks next to a door that said „E.Cohen”, produced a key and unlocked it. They stumbled in her room through the small doorway, alcohol reminding them of its effects. Ash looked around for a moment, wondering exactly how thick the walls were. She recalled very well how loud they got the last time. Quickly, before anyone who could be on this floor noticed them going in, she locked the door behind them and turned to face the Texan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Buck x Twitch is my second favourite ship.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Promised porn here, enjoy.

„Welcome. That’s the bed. The rest shouldn’t concern you.” Ash said with a hint of sarcasm, observing how the man in front of her started scanning the room with somewhat unfocused eyes.

„Pretty small.” Her teammate remarked.

„We’re adaptable.” The redhead crossed her arms, leaned against the wall and regarded the other operator.

Before Jordan could make a smug sexual remark, a realization dawned on him, coming from the small part of his brain that wasn’t totally inebriated. He didn’t exactly carry a pack of condoms on him at all times on base. „Shit, I don’t have…give me a moment, I’ll go to my room.”

Ash scoffed in amusement, though somewhat appreciative of his regard. „You think I’d fully trust a man with such matters? Don’t worry about it. Now, how and where do you want me?”

 _Everywhere._ „Get rid of the shirt, first.” He commanded.

This time Ash wasn’t about to argue and quickly peeled her dark top off. He took another swig of the brown liquor in his hand and looked at her with clear admiration. She was wearing a black bra underneath, simple, but right then and there looked very captivating to him.

„Good thing you’re quicker to action in the field.” Ash was growing impatient with the tension in the air and grabbed the bottle out of his hands, wrapping her lips around the neck of it and enjoying the rush of the sharp tasting liquid down her throat. She licked her lips at the taste, pressed her other hand against his pants and felt his hardening cock.

„Get on the bed. I want to taste you.” Thermite was silent, but still retained his authoritative tone. Ash felt a jolt of arousal through her at his proposal. If there was one thing she truly appreciated, it was a man who enjoyed and was good at pleasuring her with his tongue.

Without breaking his provocative gaze, Ash backed away to a bed at the side of her room and sat down with the bottle in her hand. She took another sip and leaned back against the wall. For a second, she realized that she was in a fucking fantastic place. They had come back from a tangle with death in which death suffered a devastating loss, had ridden the world of a lot of bad people and, most importantly, suffered absolutely no friendly losses, not even a single injury. And here she was, in the cold night of the early spring, the buzz of combat still reverberating within her and the laughter of her friends resounding somewhere in her subconscious from their little celebration before, Ash was basking in the pleasant warmth of the liquor and about to get pleasured by a man who she knew to be a fantastic lover. This was one hell of a life. She felt _alive._

Eliza was brought out of her little moment of reflection by the man looming over her. Without warning, he slowly dropped to her knees in front of her. She forgot to breathe for a moment. Jordan Trace kneeling between her spread legs was truly a sight to behold. Her bloused black pants came off along with the boots and she removed her bra of her own accord, truth to be told it had been killing her for a few hours already. Jordan lifted up his eyebrow and smirked, seeing that instead of her mentioned red panties she wore grey basic underwear.

„Seems I got a liar here, Cohen.”

Ash frowned in frustration: „Do you really think I go on assignments wearing the latest Victoria’s Secret?”

Thermite looked at her for a brief moment, a dark, desiring gaze that made her internally shiver. „Do you really think I give a shit about what kind of underwear I rip off of you?”

„You like to talk big, don’t you?”

„You know I don’t just talk.” He was looking at her in determination.

Ash rolled her eyes. „For fuck’s sake Jordan, we’ve played this game long enough, can you just fu-„

Thermite put his mouth on her through her underwear, a warm, wonderful sensation that made her gasp. God, she wanted to feel his tongue so bad. The man rapidly pulled on her underwear and, just like he promised, the fabric ripped. Ash had absolutely no intentions to scold him. Jordan moved his fingers towards his mouth as if to lick them, then quickly changed his mind and looked up to Eliza, moving his two fingers towards her. Ash understood his hint and took his trigger finger in her mouth, sucking softly and running her tongue over it. His finger felt peculiar, she could tell it had some scar tissue. It didn’t bother her though, not in a million years.

Jordan looked at her, releasing a grunt of desire. His cock was half hard and he squeezed it through his pants with his other hand. Eliza didn’t let go of his stare, taking his middle finger in her mouth and wetting it with her tongue, running slow circles around it. His wish to taste her cunt was getting overshadowed by his wish to have her work that amazing tongue around his cock. And not just that, he wanted to fuck her arrogant little mouth. Jordan had a feeling she’d like that, she was challenging him with her eyes, wanting him to lose all control. But he was way more disciplined than the woman thought.

Taking his fingers out of her mouth with a pop, he switched his attention to her wet core. Jordan liked eating pussy, making his lovers mad with pleasure, and he knew full well he was good at it. But Eliza, putting _her,_ this gorgeous, arrogant, dangerous redhead under his control, hearing her shout and beg for more pleasure was going to be a lot more of a treat than fucking some random bar floozy.

Ash felt one of his long fingers enter her wetness, testing her, prodding her. It was a more than a welcome intrusion and she yearned for more. Jordan was close to her, so close she could feel his hot breath on her wet folds. He put another finger inside her, moving both of the digits inside of her at a leisurely rhythm, curving them with an evident expertise to make them hit all the right spots. Ash was gasping, moving towards his fingers, clearly in need. And Thermite was more than happy to oblige. His fingers, slowly drawn out with Ash protesting through frustrated moans, were replaced by his mouth. Suddenly, whatever Eliza had felt somewhere else had disappeared and all her world was reduced to his lips on her warm cunt. She was wet, oh so wet, and Jordan’s beard was already covered in her arousal and that only spurred him on. Eliza tasted wonderful and he had a feeling he’d stay there forever. He parted her, his lithe tongue snaked out and licked her. Ash swore and bit her lip. She felt the smug bastard smirk, he was well aware of how needy and responsive she was.

He felt like anything he had ever been interested in had disappeared and all that was left was this woman in front of him. Jordan started licking more intensively, hearing her gasps and moans, parted her thighs even more to get better access, completely buried his face in her. His tongue was relentless, winding her up and moving the redhead quickly towards her peak.

„Fuck, Cohen, you have no idea how…”

„Keep going, you bastard, I-„

Eliza’s sentence was cut short by her own loud moan. Jordan had resumed the ministrations of his mouth more intensely than ever, his strong hands locking her thighs in place, leaving her entirely in his mercy.  All Ash could do was lock her feet around his head and tangle her hand in his dark hair. He certainly didn’t need to be forced closer. Jordan was licking at her with determination and intensity, his mouth, while working at her pussy, whispering obscenities, barely audible. She looked down and the picture of his head between her thighs, obsessed with bringing her pleasure, her thin fingers in his greying hair, was more erotic than anything she had conjured up before. Eliza tossed her head behind, closed her eyes and decided that trying to silence her moans more was evidently failing and therefore, pointless.

The sounds of pleasure from the redheaded operator were absolute music to Thermite’s ears. She was so close. His face, beard and neck were wet. And when she started reaching her climax, Jordan knew that he would do this all night and more if she let him.

„Fuck, Jordan, don’t stop, oh god, I’m right- _fuck_ ” Eliza bucked rapidly and relentlessly under the control of his mouth, cursing loudly, the bed creaking, with neither of them being concerned whether it will hold. Jordan quickly brought his left hand to her mouth and she bit his fingers in a futile attempt to silence the sounds of her orgasm, but that concern was pushed completely out of her mind when he kept licking, just as intensely, as if he was trying to wind her up for another-

After a while, she thought she had passed out for few seconds. Her strong thighs were wrapped around Thermite’s head. His fingers were on her lips, bleeding slightly from her bite marks. Ash was reduced to soft gasps now and her weak arm let go of his hair. Jordan slowly withdrew his head, breathing deeply. She looked at him through half lidded eyes and wished she could save this image somewhere in her mental storage. Her teammate’s hair was messy and his entire face was covered in slick wetness, the man’s eyes were enveloped in desire and a hint of a self-satisfied smirk displayed the unwavering pride in his work.

Though while Thermite seemed in control, Ash was anything but. Still spread out in front of him, thighs wet with her own juices and his grip marks, strands of red hair stuck to her sweaty face, a dazed stare that indicated she hadn’t yet returned to reality, she looked just as unbelievably sexy as when she rode him that night back at the gym. Jordan quietly realized that he liked her both dominant and submissive.

„When you’ve regained the gift of language, you can tell me again how I talk big.”

„Fuck off, Jordan.” She breathed out and couldn’t stop her slight smile spreading. „You’re good, you don’t need me to pat your back every minute.”

„Only good? I’m sure the entire base is up right now.”

Eliza’s eyes widened. „Oh fuck, right, we’re at the-„

„Relax.” Jordan ran a hand over her thigh, making her shiver again. „The walls are proper sturdy, the door is locked, besides, it could be anyone, nobody can keep track of who is banging who in this place.”

Eliza sighed, regaining the control over her muscles and slowly sitting up. Thermite didn’t take his eyes off her. He was painfully hard now and she damn well knew. The arrogant little thing is really going to make him ask for it? She watched him squeeze himself through the fabric of his pants, which was rather lewdly constrained by an obvious massive erection.

„By  the way, my back’s good, it doesn’t need patting. As for other things…”

„Uh-huh.” Ash smirked, having gained her damn devilish nature right back and lost all humility.

„All due respect, Cohen, I just made you moan like a whore on the first night of shore leave. The least you can do is a little quid pro quo.” His voice was calm but she could feel his rapid breathing from his arousal.

„I just think you’re the kind of guy who fucks better when desperate.”

„I always fuck good, Cohen, it’s just that you seem to like to wind me up.”

She grinned. „Maybe. It’s rather fun to toy with you.”

His gaze darkened. „You better hope I don’t get to toy with you, properly.”

Eliza bit her lip at the thoughts of what he could have in mind. „Maybe some other time. Now take off your shirt.” He obliged her, quickly throwing his top off and Ash heard some of the material tear from his clear impatience.

She suddenly leaned forward, unbuckled his pants and took his achingly hard cock out.  His hands, placed on either side of her, squeezed the mattress, as he took a trembling breath and closed his eyes at the feeling of her fingers on his flesh. Ash ran her fingers repeatedly over his massive erection. It felt just as good in her hands as she remembered.

„A whore, huh, Jordan?”

„Eliza, c’mon, I-„

„No, Jordan, you’re right. Only a whore would be as eager for your cock as I am.”

 _Fuck, she was good._ Thermite was close, already leaking, but he wouldn’t give her the smug pleasure of coming in her hands rather than making her scream once more.

Jordan grabbed a hold of the hand that was working his slick cock and felt her let go. With the rapid movements of a tiger, he knelt in the bed in front of her, took both of her wrists and slammed her entire body heavily against the mattress, pressing her hands above her against the bed in a strong iron grip.

„You move them before I say so and I’ll tie you to the headboard, you hear?” His voice was a flithy growl.

Eliza bit her lip, smirked mischievously and nodded. She would certainly let him tie her to a bed in any other place without sleeping colleagues nearby. A dingy motel room. Or an expensive hotel suite with a view. Whatever would strike her fancy.

Jordan left her wrists above her, switched his grip to her thighs and sharply lifted them up, digging his strong fingers into her supple flesh and spreading her legs. One of his large hands suddenly disappeared and then Ash heard and felt a loud smack against her ass, resounding across the room. Jordan looked over the gorgeous woman in front of him and smacked it again.

Ash for a moment pondered whether to ask for more, but the wish to feel him inside her was stronger, and the Texan himself was desperately hanging on, his cock throbbing right next to her wet core. Their eyes met and she felt the man enter her, pushing inside her relentlessly. Eliza was dripping with arousal, but his large size needed to get accustomed to. Jordan observed with borderline delirious fascination how the redhead stretched out around him, eyes closed and mouth open in a gasp. Absurdly enough, they hadn’t kissed yet and he felt the urge to close her mouth with his own. But then those eyes opened and that look meant only one thing. _Fuck me._

Jordan didn’t need to be asked twice. He increased the grip on her thighs, slamming her against him with powerful motions. His deep thrusts made her back extend in a long arch, until coming down, trashing about. Their size disrepancy was clear here and Eliza’s body was rocked like it was weightless every time he drove inside her. That turned her on to no end. She opened her eyes, seeing the man she shared an unspeakable bond of combat with, his blue eyes narrowed, focused on the way her body moved, sweat dripping down his face and body, furrowed brown displaying concentration and control.

She moved one of her arms spread above her, extended it and slapped him, hard. Jordan’s head turned sideways. His expression turned to surprise and thrusts somewhat lost their rhythm, but as their eyes met she saw an inhibited, dark desire. „Harder.” Eliza moaned out.

Jordan grunted and drove all the way inside her, slamming her hips against his in increased intensity. Ash practically saw stars and had to clutch the fabric of the sheet on her bed desperately. She was so close. That smug bastard is going to take her there again.

Eliza gathered her remnants of control and slapped him again, stronger than previously. „Harder.”

Jordan’s eyes lit up and he lost control of his anger. He pulled her hips even higher and felt her lift one of her legs on his shoulder. Jordan slammed inside her from a better position, driving her up the bed with each powerful thrust, absolutely punishing her and making her hold on to anything in the way, but it was futile, it’s like her body wasn’t hers anymore. He fucked Eliza with unbridled fury, taking out his frustration and releasing the tension that had been burning between them ever since they last touched each other in the training room, it was borderline painful, but god, it hurt so good, _so good_ , „Harder, yes, Jordan, oh fuck!” And she was violently thrashing in her climax, back arching so high he pushed her down and held her there as she squirmed, torturing her with her powerful orgasm.

Eliza was way, way too much to bear to him now and his long held control disappeared as Jordan had one more deep thrust in him before his own long awaited climax finally unraveled, making the Texan ride it out while muttering every swear word in the playbook, still lost in the woman in front of him, gripping her thighs so hard she felt the pain even through her own waves of pleasure.

As Jordan finished desperately driving up against her, he let her legs slide down off his body. The bed was small, meant for one operator rather than two going at it, so Thermite, catching his breath, laid down his head right next to one of her soft breasts. He heard her rapid heartbeat, listened to his teammate’s deep breaths as she was still recovering and enjoying the afterglow. His beard scratched her sweat soaked skin, but she didn’t mind at all.

The room was spinning around Eliza, partially because of just being fucked out of her mind, partially because of the amount of alcohol they consumed earlier on. She threaded her fingers lightly through his hair. Despite the man’s weight on her, she felt comfortable. For a moment, she wished they were anywhere but at the base. They’d lay there for a while, share another bottle as they got ready for a round two. Maybe in a shower. She quickly pushed her thoughts away. No point in dwelling. They were in their base of operations with who knows how many operators around them in the building and her bed was a fucking mess.

The redhead shifted under him and Thermite, feeling her intentions, slowly dragged himself off the woman and sat up, stretching his back and rubbing his knees. „Now that was something.” He hoarsely exclaimed.

Eliza saw no point in teasing him and launching yet another one of their battles. „Sure was. I’m going to feel this in the morning.”

„Kateb has a lot of pain pills. Though you’d probably should maintain it’s the hangover that’s culpable.” She scoffed and kicked his shoulder with her bare leg, finally regaining the wish to move.

Thermite felt up his jaw. It was aching a bit from her slaps. He brushed the memory quickly away, lest he get hard again right when he’s about to leave. Both of them suddenly heard footsteps, passing next to the room and went silent, hoping there wouldn’t be a knock. The footsteps didn’t stop and were clearly moving with purpose, probably some drunken operator going for an nightly walk. Ash quietly breathed out a sigh of relief. There were no regulations against fraternization or whatever you could call their diversion, they were spec ops, not regular military, but she didn’t want to be seen as the woman who fucks her colleagues. Some people, mostly jealous bureaucrats in the FBI, where already questioning her rapid rise through the ranks behind her back, they’d obviously never dare to insinuate such a thing to her face in order not to suffer a broken cheekbone. Ash had no intention of becoming the subject of work gossip in Team Rainbow as well. Thermite himself didn’t give a shit, but he understood the different way men and women are perceived if they engage in sexual relationships in the workplace. He wasn’t the type to make a woman uncomfortable to get a chance to brag about his conquests.

Eliza shot a worried glance towards him. „Listen, I’m not kicking you out, but…”

Jordan smiled crookedly. „Yeah, you’re kicking me out. No worries.” The man stood and dragged up his underwear and pants. „Hopefully there’s some more whiskey left in the mess hall.” Thermite got up, threw on his discarded, somewhat ripped shirt, stretched out his limbs and walked in a slow, tired pace towards the door. „’Til breakfast, I suppose. I’m fucking starving.”

„Maybe you’ll luck out and they’ll serve us barbecue.”

The Texan swiftly turned around and frowned at her. „Barbecue? The shit they serve here? It’s a fucking travesty. I wouldn’t give that to my dog.”

Ash couldn’t help but chuckle. „I’ve never understood why you people take it so seriously. It’s just meat and sauce.”

Jordan looked positively furious. „Meat and sauce? Now, hold on-„ He exasperatedly waved a finger towards her. „Where I’m from, you’d get put up against a wall for that. I liked you better with my fingers in your mouth.”

Ash grinned at his seemingly genuine discontent. What’s with Texas and food? „I liked you better with your mouth busy as well. Consider this me kicking you out.”

Her fellow operator, still quite angry, shot her a wink before turning around again. Eliza fiddled with the sheet, unsure of what she’s about to do. They were still drunk though, so this might be forgivable.

„Jordan.”

The man turned around again, expecting her to make another smug remark. Instead she stood up, still naked, as he unashamedly looked her up and down, slowly. Ash realized she was nervous. _You just fucked like animals, but you’re afraid to kiss him?_ After taking a deep breath, she closed the distance between them in quick strides, with him running his eyes up her naked body and locking them to her face. She looked at him for a moment, taken aback at how there was no smirking, no self-satisfaction, just a serious look, waiting for her to make a decision. She then reached up, fingers in his dark hair, and kissed him.

Thermite didn’t move for a while. Fucking came as the most natural thing to them, but this weirdly felt more intimate. Her lips were soft and almost gentle on his at first, but as he responded and opened them, she deepened the kiss with clear intensity. He slipped his damn skilled tongue in her mouth and heard her moan with approval, just a little. It spurred the man on, he tangled his fingers in her red hair and firmly gripped her upper arm, pulling her closer to him and running his hand across her naked back. He could feel his cock react.

Jordan tasted so good, so damn good she forgot this was supposed to be a momentary parting diversion. Eliza pressed her bare thigh between her partner’s legs. She looked so small, especially when pressed naked against her fully clothed larger teammate. Thermite’s powerful hands ran all over the woman, pulled her hair a little, brushed down her back, grabbing a hold of her skin, gleaming with sweat. Ash could feel his scar tissue on her bare back. She wanted him again, so badly, and what was remaining of her rational side, cursed her for thinking she had such a firm control on her desires.

Eliza bit his lip and heard him groan silently. If there was a last chance to get out, this was it. She released his bottom lip and pulled away from the operator. She sensed Jordan was frustrated, but understanding. Eliza was flushed and looked away from his face. He didn’t.

„Sleep tight, Cohen.” His silent baritone reverberated all throughout her body. He took one last look at her naked form and turned around to exit the room, closing the door with barely any sound. Eliza did sleep incredibly well that night, but not before recalling the way his lips felt on her body.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Ubisoft doesn't add an Outbreak epilogue where these two bang, I'll be immensely disappointed. Anyway, thanks to all the readers, you guys are awesome.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place several weeks after chapter 3, when the sheer exhaustion and faulty intel leads to Team Rainbow making a mistake during an operation.

The target was a three story building in Portland. It was rumored to be a White Mask hideout as well as a drug operation, so Six made sure to remind them to watch their fire, lest they all go up in flames after hitting something unstable. This was their third operation this week. Usually, the team got a roundabout week break in between ops. But the Masks had upped their activity significantly, which indicated preparation for something big, so they couldn’t afford to be tired.

Though, however much they fought their exhaustion, they were still human and prone to too much stress in a short period of time. Ash had spotted Blitz nodding off in the helicopter on the way here. The fact that a human could fall asleep when in a ride to a gunfight spoke volumes about their tiredness. A few days ago, Thatcher had missed a jump and sprained his ankle during a window breach. The mean bastard was swearing as much as he could, but in the end he accepted sitting this mission out. Ash would never mention it to his face, she was smarter than that, but she couldn’t help but think his body was failing to keep up with combat. The man was a veteran of the goddamn Falklands War. She wasn’t even a year old back then. The Israeli had an inkling Baker wanted to die on the field, rather than retire. While she knew he had a family back in London, wife and kids who had gotten used to seeing him go out to risk his life over and over again, she understood that wish. Eliza thought if she would live to Baker’s age, she would avoid retirement as well.

However, the idea of living to her mid fifties seemed more and more distant as a bullet whizzed through a wall in front of her. _I missed a camera._ Without thinking twice, she used her grenade launcher to blow a hole in the same wall, creating a sight line, through which she spotted two enemies. Even on 3 hours of sleep, Eliza could run circles around anyone in her way and as five bullets were gone from her magazine, so were two enemies from their opposition. _5 Tangos left, if the intel was right._

Ash heard gunshot and a dead camera whizz, as if having its last breath, right above her. Thermite had noticed it blinking and shot it out. The man then motioned to Blitz, who was on standby, and followed the German as he charged out, shield towards potential enemies. For this mission, Jordan had donned new face gear, something resembling a silver skull with barbed wire around it. Very Megadeth. When Ash saw it on a chair in the preparation room, she thought it looked ridiculous, though after she had seen him turn a corner and put two bullets in a Tango’s face a few minutes into the mission, he was anything but funny.

Ash joined her Texan teammate, venturing forward side by side behind Blitz’s shield. Her heart was pounding, but she felt calm and steady. The trio were advanced towards a large wall with voices heard on the other side of it. Thermite turned his head towards her. She couldn’t see his expression, but she would bet her entire bank account that he was smirking.

„Alright, let me blow this fucking thing. I’ll flash as soon as the wall is clear, then Blitz, you go in and let them have it, Ash, stick behind him and pop those fuckers. I’ll flank in the meantime.” Jordan silently ordered.

Eliza nodded. No need to protest. This was the same gameplan they executed hundreds of times in training and dozens of times in real operations. She motioned Thermite to wait and put a finger to her ear. „Sledge, how are you doing? You heard the plan?”

The Scottish giant responded through her earpiece from the other side of the building. „If my instincts are right, and they bloody are, we’re at the same room, only from the opposite side. Glaz is covering me. I’ll smash the windows and take them out as soon as I hear Jordan’s charge going off.”

„Great. Just don’t get caught in the crossfire.”

„Hey now, Red, you think I’m a fucking muppet?”

Ash smiled and nodded at Thermite. Her teammate squeezed her shoulder and tapped Blitz’s helmet. He proceeded towards the wall in front of him and stuck on his exothermic charge.

_Is he gonna say it again?_

„A BIG FUCKING HOLE, COMING RIGHT UP!”

_You bet he did._

Ash put down her head to avoid the shrapnel and the forthcoming flashbang. She felt the German in front of her move and proceeded an inch behind him, holding her rifle over his shield. On the other side she could hear the recognizable and terrifying sound of a hammer smashing through a window, followed several shots from a high caliber sniper rifle. The hostiles inside the room started swearing. But when Blitz flashed them through his shield, the swearing turned into unabashed screaming. She saw the first target emerge, waving around his rifle with one hand, the other held over his eyes. Ash squeezed the trigger twice, with the first bullet penetrating his jaw and the other hitting his neck, cutting his carotid artery in half as the blood spray indicated. The second target came in her sights but disappeared just as quickly as a bullet from a sniper rifle opened his skull. The third Tango somewhere on the left side of the room was still screaming in terror as Sledge mercilessly riddled his chest with bullets and added one in between his eyes as well, as a punctuation mark. Ash spied her FBI teammate’s shining skull helmet in the corner of her eye. She saw the barrel of Thermite’s rifle next, going off towards something further in the room she couldn’t see. He fired only twice, meaning it reached his target.

Suddenly, a screaming hostile lunged towards them, not even trying to kill, just to escape. He was met with Blitz’s shield, stopping him mid-tackle and dropping him on his back. Thermite and Ash moved both at once. Her, taking a step away from Blitz and raising her rifle towards the hostile. Him, closing the distance quickly and slamming his boot on the bastard’s throat. The man was effectively neutralized, but alive. Thermite suddenly turned his head towards Ash. She didn’t see his face but it didn’t matter. They both agreed. _Execute._

After a shot from each FBI operator in the head of the enemy on the floor, the room was clear. Each operator did a 360 around themselves, but all realized the same thing. It was silent, the only audible thing was their breaths. Flawless breach. By the fucking book.

Blitz was the one who broke the silence. He looked at the guy below him with two high caliber bullets in his head, face split open in a gruesome fashion. „Sorry, buddy. Immovable object, stoppable force.” He got up from a crouching position and waved his finger around. „So that’s a wrap, right? We might make back to base in time for…”

Suddenly, the German’s body flew forward and slumped to the ground. The three operators in the room turned towards the gunshot in a split second. Before the last enemy behind them could shift his barrel to another person, the three teammates let him have it. In a few seconds he was so riddled with bullets that they couldn’t make out the features on his face later when they passed him.

As the bastard fell to the ground, Ash commanded. „Sledge, our six, NOW!” The Scot ran across the room in an astounding speed, considering his size, and scanned the sector.

„Suka nahui! What happened? Seamus? Talk!” Glaz was shouting in the radio. He broke protocol, using a real name during a live operation, but nobody really gave a damn right now. Both FBI operators turned towards their usually jovial teammate who was clutching his shoulder in pain, rivulets of red running between his fingers.

„Be calm.” Ash knelt next to him, though not before looking at Thermite worryingly. „Let me see it.” Blitz slightly moved his hand, showing the entry wound. It was right where his neck met his shoulder, a red 5.56 round sized hole with blood oozing right through it. Ash touched the other side of his next. There was no exit wound. As far as she could tell, no major arteries were slashed, but they needed to take him to a hospital for surgery as soon as possible before he lost too much blood.

Blitz tried to keep calm, despite everything. „…so, as I was saying…scheisse…the Bayern are playing tonight, and…”

Ash smiled at the man’s stubborness. „You’re in luck then. Hospitals have TVs.” She motioned to Thermite. „We need to get him to the helicopter, stat.”

Her colleague had raised his mask up. Jordan’s face was covered in sweat and his usual confident and focused expression was exchanged for worry for his German colleague. „I’ll get a surface. We’ll carry him on it. Hear it, brother? We got you.” Blitz still had his mask on, but you could tell by his eyes that he smiled in response.

The Russian was screaming at the FBI operators through the radio. „Glaz, it’s Blitz, he got tagged in the shoulder.” Thermite responded.

„Blyat, how? I didn’t see anyone!”

„It’s not your fault, you had no clear line of sight. Doesn’t matter right now. Stay there and provide overwatch, we’re moving him out to the helicopter. And let mission control know we need to contact the nearest hospital, they’re gonna need to operate a shoulder gunshot wound.”

„Done. Take care of him.”

Thermite took the nearby table, up-ended it with massive force to get everything off it, and tapped Sledge’s shoulder, who was scanning the surroundings as his life depended on it. „Hey man, we need to carry him to the chopper.”

„On it.” The Scot hurried to his injured colleague.

Blitz looked at him worryingly. „Hey, brother, be delicate. I’m not one of your hammers.” Sledge was too angry to laugh. Together with Thermite they put the wincing man on the table and, in coordination, lifted their makeshift gurney up.

„Guys…my shield.”

„Don’t worry, I got it.” Ash picked Elias’ most valued piece of gear up. It didn’t protect him now, sadly.

„No, give it to me.” Blitz insisted.

Ash understood and placed it gently on his torso. Blitz gripped it tightly with his good arm.

„Let’s move.” Thermite commanded. Eliza met his eyes and he looked furious. „Ash, watch our six. No surprises.”

Ash nodded and reloaded her rifle. She was boiling with anger, but her hands were as steady as ever.

* * *

They had spent the next four hours in a medical center, waiting to see Blitz. The operation was successful and he was in stable condition, suffering no heavy damage but blood loss and shock. The surgeon insisted that he needs his rest. Ash made sure to shake his hand multiple times.

Thermite was sulking in the chair at the waiting room, drinking something out of a brown leather flask that he occasionally passed to Sledge, and, when Ash stopped pacing around for a minute, to her. It was strong scotch which she considered more necessary right now than sleep or food. Glaz on the other side of the room, staring in the wall. He blamed himself for not spotting the hostile earlier, even though everyone understood that there were too many obstacles in his way to see him. Ash went over to talk to him, but he responded that he needs to manage his thoughts. She understood it. A lot of people like to think of snipers as solely cold blooded killers, but they usually are the ones who blame themselves the most when a teammate gets hit. They see themselves as the protectors of the squad, the ones who see more than the people closer to danger and who have the responsibility to cover them. If someone gets hurt, no matter if it was preventable by them or not, the snipers tend to blame it on themselves.

The depressive atmosphere was shattered by a jovial shout. „Hey guys, they won!” Elias entered the waiting room, surrounded by doctors, but walking by himself. His neck and left shoulder where covered in white bandages and arm was hanging in a cast, but the man was grinning his head off. Glaz immediately jumped up, wide eyed from surprise and joy.

„Missed me already?” Elias saw the imposing bodies of Sledge and Thermite advancing rapidly towards him and backed up in worry. „Uhh, Doctor? These two are gonna crush me and ruin your good work.”

They made sure to avoid his bad side, but Thermite lightly punched him in the stomach in a joking manner and squeezed his good shoulder. Sledge slapped his cheeks in glee. In between numerous congratulations, Glaz shouted „Sukin sin, you made it! It’s a scratch, yes?”

„Yes, back in GSG this doesn’t even get you a medal.” Blitz smiled. „And Eliza, a sight for sore eyes as always!” She ran over to hug him. „Tell me you cried for me!”

Ash laughed and looked at the doctors. „Any chance we get to leave him here?”

The head surgeon smiled back, understanding how great it was to see their friend back, mostly in good shape. „We wanted to keep him here for monitoring. But as your…boss told us, you guys have the medical part covered yourselves.”

* * *

When they arrived back to base, it was obvious that Six had already informed the rest of the team of the incident. A little more than a dozen of Rainbow operators who were on standby at base were all gathered around the entry gate to check on Blitz. When the team got out of their cars, the operators, led by Dominic and Monika, swarmed the wounded German. Even the usually reserved Vincente was grinning and hugging the poor Elias, who looked both ecstatic and worried what the crowd was going to do to his shoulder wound.

Through shouting, cheering and some bottle opening, the group proceeded towards the big recreation room inside the base. Ash felt a strong hand tap her shoulder. „Eliza. We need to talk.”

She nodded, obviously knowing the purpose. „Yes, we do.” Both of them stopped outside by the entrance and each lit a cigarette.

„So what the fuck happened?” Jordan spoke, cigarette squeezed between his teeth. He obviously didn’t share the same jovial spirit of his teammates right now.

Eliza exhaled smoke and proceeded, quiet and serious. „If I have to nominate someone, it was me. I should’ve watched our six. Instead I rushed in along with Blitz, so-„

Her teammate interrupted her. „Horseshit. You executed your role in the breach, straight out of the playbook. The shield’s role is to draw attention so that another teammate could lay down a firing line. You did just that, without you Blitz would be pointlessly exposed. If anyone of us is to be nominated as the author of this fuck-up, it would be me. After blowing the charge and throwing the flash, I could’ve stayed to watch our backs.”

Ash was already opening her mouth to protest, but he waved her off and flicked the cigarette ashes away. „Wait, ‘Liza, the point is still coming. But in the end, even I’m not the one to blame. I also executed my role in flanking the hostiles. Truth is, the entire op was a fuck up intel-wise, thrown together only with the most basic recon.”

Ash understood what he said. „So, in your opinion, the blame rests on the command?” She took a drag from her cigarette deep in thought. She knew what that meant.

„You goddamn right it does.” Jordan’s formerly tired eyes were blazing with anger. „All the ops in the past few weeks were planned and executed without the ideal team roster. Think of the people we could’ve used in this assignment to avoid getting fucked in the ass? Dokkaebi is somewhere in Europe. Jack was on East Coast at the time of the op. Castellano is running around Russia with Craig. I don’t even know where Jackal is, but I haven’t seen him for about a month. All because we need to run 10 operations at the same time for some reason, not to mention the people taking part in them are hanging on by a thread.”

„We’re overextending.” Eliza summarized his point.

„Yup. Same damn mistake America always makes.” Jordan had a resigned tone. Her usually boisterous colleague looked in the distance, one eye squeezed tightly to protect it from cigarette smoke. He looked sad. Ash noticed that seeing a teammate get hurt affected Thermite more than he ever would admit.

Eliza took one last drag off her cigarette. „Okay, Jordan. You’re gonna be surprised to hear this, but I agree. We have been filling up our roster over the past year considerably, but that doesn’t make us able to take everything on at once. And Six isn’t spotless, she makes mistakes in judgement like everyone else. We’ve been ran dry over the past month.” She threw away the cigarette. „But we’re tired right now, angry and anxious. I suggest we sleep on it and bring this up to the team tomorrow, otherwise we’d just end up screaming at our boss. Besides, I hear there’s a celebration going on.” She motioned to their headquarters, through which the loud yelling of Seamus was heard, who probably rambled on about how Blitz took down 5 men with his shield before getting shot.

Jordan smiled. He was tired as a dog, but for his teammate he’d hang on for a few hours. He looked at his colleague. Eliza was exhausted as well, but her hazel eyes were clear. Her red hair was messy, falling around her face. „So, how you’re holding up?” He asked in a silent voice.

Ash stretched out her arms. „I’m exhausted, but, all in all, could be worse. We could be planning a funeral right now.” Someone yelled again in German, definitely Bandit. 

Jordan observed her. „Alright then, see you inside soon?”

Eliza looked at her watch and nodded. „20 minutes. I’ll take a shower and be there. Get me a bottle. And you could use a shower as well, you smell like gunpowder.”

Jordan’s lips extended slowly in a smirk. „Uh-huh.”

Ash paused and raised her head to look at him. She hadn’t thought about sex the last few weeks. Not like she didn’t want to, but in between training, planning, operations and training again she didn’t have the time. And ever since their last time, Jordan had acted thoroughly professional towards her. She couldn’t really decide whether that bothered her in some weird way.

„What? Use words, Jordan.”

„Want company?”

She studied the man’s face for a moment. He was absolutely serious. Ash thought about it. All of their teammates on base must be in their bar room, toasting to Elias’ health. The base had multiple shower rooms, which where lockable. Most importantly, she was desperate to blow off some steam. Having his body next to her in a warm, steamy shower seemed like a really appealing idea.

„To hell with it. Why not.” She didn’t break his gaze. „I’ll be on the third floor, east side shower room. Wait 10 minutes and then follow me.” She gave him his orders and the proceeded inside the building.

„Yes, ma’am.”

Eliza sharply turned around. „Call me „ma’am” again and you’ll have to find someone else to play in the showers with.”

The Texan just grinned and lit another cigarette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As it turns out, someone on ff.net by the name of mobman111 had taken my chapter 1 from this story and straight up plagiarized it in the chapter 3 of his story. I wouldn't have noticed it if he didn't have the stupidity to accuse me of plagiarism when I posted this story on ff.net as well. So, truth to be told, I didn't want to post anything here until the situation gets resolved, not to give thieves future material. But, in the end, why should I let lazy morons dictate when I post? Now the situation is in the hands of admins and I trust them to act.
> 
> On a better note, shower sex chapter coming soon.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Needless to say, this gets steamy. Yes, that was an awkward shower joke.

Eliza felt the warm rivulets of water hit her face and sighed in pleasure. This was a long time coming. Her feet were killing her and her skin was red from the kevlar vest she wore before. She just wanted to relax and shut off. Back home, in her Boston apartment, she’d take a bath with a bottle of expensive gin and catch up on Netflix. But now, she had to take what she could get. And, truth to be told, the showers on base weren’t that bad, apart from privacy issues.

Speaking of which, where was her company? Ash shifted impatiently under the hot water, running her hand down her body. This was surely one of the man’s games. _If he’s not going to show up right when I’m in the mood, Blitz won’t be the only one with a gunshot wound._

She covered her hand in her lime scented shower gel and ran it over her body, fingers briefly brushing between her legs. She imagined how his skin would feel behind her, touching her as she is now. A jolt of arousal ran through her body. _I’ll do the work myself if Jordan’s not here in a few minutes._

Then, speak of the Texan devil, she heard the door open. The man locked the door behind him, so she knew it was Thermite. She heard him kick off his boots. „How’s the water?” Jordan enquired.

„Good. Come here and see for yourself. Where the hell were you, anyway?” she asked in a slightly more impatient tone than intended.

„Oh someone’s eager, isn’t she? Did you already start all by yourself?” Ash could absolutely imagine him smirk at the thought of having her all desperate.

Eliza flushed with frustration. „If you keep talking, maybe I should.”

„You know, if you let me watch I won’t object.” Jordan chuckled. He had imagined it, after all. Thermite had a rather filthy mind and he had lost himself in it more times than he’d admit to her.

„Trust me, I’m not that unselfish.” Eliza replied. „Now, are you gonna come here or not?”

She heard clothes hitting the floor as he marched into the showers. She shot a sideways glance at him, trying not to make her appreciation too obvious. Running her eyes up and down his naked form, she realized that she never had the time to admire him properly. Not only he had a broad, defined torso and powerful arms, his thighs where thick with muscle as well. The Texan’s tanned body was covered with dark hair and she could spot some tattoos here and there, in the usual places. She briefly locked her eyes to his cock and bit her lip. Eliza imagined tying him to a bed and spending a night with that body, taking her time. She found it hard to tear her eyes away and the only reason why he didn’t make a smug remark was that he was transfixed by her own figure himself.

„I went up to check out their little party.” Jordan said, eyes still running down the small of her back and focused on her shapely ass.  „At this point I think Elias is happy he got shot. They’re pouring more liquor into him than during an Irish wake.” Her teammate walked right up to her, so close she could feel his breath and brushed his large hand down her back. „There was some pretty expensive vodka. I had some, though I reckon you taste better.” He put his lips to her shoulder blade, his beard tickling her wet skin. Eliza shivered.

„As much as I want to properly enjoy myself, we’re on a bit of a schedule here,” the redhead reminded him. The truth was, she wasn’t sure she could take his teasing now. „So hurry up.”

„Yes ma’am.”

Before she got the chance to protest at the use of the term, she heard Jordan squirt a bit of shower gel on his hand and then felt him run his scar-covered palm over her soft skin. He dug his thumb into her tired shoulder, massaging it. Eliza hummed in pleasure and leaned back towards him. His fingers moved towards a particularly tense spot in her back. She hadn’t felt that sensation in seemingly ages. The feeling of his powerful fingers digging into her back, the pleasant water over them, the smell of the shower gel and the man behind her caused a sensory overload.

„Oh, that feels _good,_ ” Ash breathed out.

”Found a weak spot, huh?” Jordan said with evident self-satisfaction.

„Shut up.” Her tone was clearly indicative of her enjoyment. Ash wasn’t in the mood to engage in power play, this time. She was tired and desperately hoping to get the stress of the mission out of her system. So she gave into his hands easily, letting her teammate run them all over her back, down to her thighs. Jordan was focused on her body, his skilled fingers working all over her aching muscles. It seemed like he wanted to take his time, but Eliza was also acutely aware of his growing erection pressing into her back. She knew she was wet with anticipation.

Eliza felt his fingers trace over her light pubic hair and slip into her wetness, massaging slow circles. Suddenly he pushed one finger in, sliding in slowly with no trouble inside her dripping cunt. She gasped against her best intentions. Jordan’s lips were on her neck, planting hungry kisses, then running his tongue slowly to her ear and giving it a bite before whispering: „You feel so fucking good around me. What do you want?”.

Ash let her head fall back on his shoulder, exposing her neck to him. „More.”

A second finger joined his trigger one. He was opening her up slowly, with expert precision. Getting wound up like a clock by his skilled hands, the hot water of the shower covering them both, Ash felt wonderfully excruciating pleasure. Soon, his fingers made her gasp loudly. Eliza opened her eyes and locked them with his bright blue stare. Her colleague looked so heavily focused in bringing her pleasure and that turned her on even more. Jordan’s fingers drove deeper inside of her. Her next gasp was muffled by his lips on hers. The powerful grip of his left hand ended up in her soaked red hair.

Ash let his tongue into her mouth, enjoying the way his mouth tried to devour hers. It was anything but tender, it felt deliciously possessive. She usually wasn’t the one to submit, but at that moment the thought drove her crazy with lust. His fingers pushed into her more rapidly, deeply, curving with more intensity and she lifted one leg up and balanced it against the shower wall to spread her legs even wider. Ash was now standing on one leg, but the body she leaned against was as stable as ever. Jordan groaned into her mouth. He took his left hand out of her hair and grabbed one of her breasts, squeezing it almost painfully. His powerful arms were now around her and Eliza knew she wouldn’t fall.

„Jordan…more,” Ash gasped in pleasure. He bit and sucked on her lower lip, the moved his mouth back to her throat to suck at it hard.

Thermite stayed silent, preoccupied with her neck, but his fingers were moving in and out of her with slick sounds, barely audible over the running water, and his left hand gripped her other breast, kneading it and squeezing the nipple hard. Ash wouldn’t ask, would be too proud to ask, but she wanted his marks on her. Something that would remind her that their secret escapades weren’t just a brief fragment of her imagination.

Jordan growled from lust and his fingers started moving faster. He seemed to pick up on her enjoyment of pain and sucked sharply on the bite mark he left on her neck. She felt his erection pressing against her ass. Eliza was close, unable to stop her load moans of pleasure now.

„Fuck…Jordan, fuck me.” She didn’t beg, but _demanded._ The man obliged her, his own cock pulsing of arousal at her gorgeous body that responded to each of his touches and bites. He pressed her closer between his own body and the wall. The redhead braced herself against the solid tiles in front of her with both hands. Jordan grabbed her thighs and lifted her up, spreading her legs above his throbbing hard-on. She felt herself lose her foundation on the ground, but trusted him implicitly not to drop her. Even when exhausted, the fit and flexible bodies of both operators handled this without problems.

Ash felt the head of his cock against her and in the next second he pushed in suddenly, making her cry out and curse loudly, even hit the tiles out of the intense sensation that just overwhelmed her. Jordan allowed her acclimatize for a second, pulled himself out of her and buried again to the hilt.

„ _F-fuck...”_ Eliza cried out across the shower, without caring who might’ve heard. Any hints of slowness and sensuality that might’ve occurred right at the beginning of their joint shower were gone. They wanted this to be rough, to be memorable. They both wanted to get rid of the memory of the horrible coldness they had felt when they saw the body of their comrade lying on the floor. And what they now had were each others warm bodies, pulsating with life, desire, desperation.

Jordan drove himself inside her again with major force, pushing her upper body and her face against the wall. He held an iron grip on her hips while his other hand ran over her body, squeezing her breasts. His fingers were grabbing and pulling on her supple flesh, like he understood her dark desire to have him mark her. Jordan’s thrusts were now faster and just as powerful, rocking her entire body, making her cling to the wall. The Texan’s arm snaked up higher and Eliza felt the scar tissue of his fingers wrap around her throat. They stopped any attempts to stay silent now, her gasps and moans clearly audible over the sound of water.

He squeezed, but not hard enough to cut off her air passage. Eliza moaned out loud as he rhythmically drove into her, so hard that her body was slapped against the wall, firmly holding her throat. She felt his teeth on her ear and a deep growl, followed by a plethora of obscenities.

„You like getting fucked like this, don’t you? You should see yourself now, so desperate for my cock.”

„Shut-the-fu- oh god, yes…”

„What do you want, ‘Liza?” Thermite breathed in her ear.

„Ha-rder, fuck me harder, I’m so close.”

Remnants of shower gel were running down across the arch of her back. Jordan let go of the firm grip on her right breast and moved his hand down between her legs, starting to rub her as she got closer and closer to climax. Eliza felt like she’s gonna black out.

She pushed herself back to him, wanted him even deeper, wanting to reach the sweet release point. Ash felt him squeeze her throat again, harder this time. Jordan pushed her entirely against a wall with one particularly vicious thrust. Her hands gave out against his pressure and she was rocking between the shower wall and his powerful body. That was exactly what Eliza wanted. She yearned to to get driven over the edge and was perfectly willing to give him the keys, at least this time. The man holding her was mad with lust, snarling filth in her ear, which she barely registered, her entire attention now focused on the delicious pleasure consuming her body. She barely even felt his teeth on her neck and shoulder.

„Don’t hold back, I want to hear you scream,” he managed out, between his breaths.

„Oh god, yes, Jordan, make me come, fuck…”

The loudness of her cry surprised her. She sharply twisted from the exquisite waves of her climax in his strong hands. Jordan, on the edge himself, drove her hard up against the water-covered surface with the few hard thrusts he could still manage. She then felt him empty himself inside her, squeezing her throat, teeth latched on to her shoulder.

The warm water was dripping over them for what seemed like eternity. Ash realized that all her sense of balance was literally and figuratively gone, the woman being pressed between the tile wall in front of her and her Texan teammate behind her, both entities feeling equally firm and trustworthy. She knew that he wouldn’t drop her, even as he himself was still recovering from his own climax, face buried in her wet hair. And he didn’t, both bodies still encased in each other’s warmth, enjoying the flowing water over them.

„I got you, don’t worry.” Jordan whispered, brushing his lips over her ear, evidently exhausted but surely holding her as he slowly slid them both down towards the floor of the shower.

Ash had slowly regained a stable breathing pattern. „That was…”

„Necessary.” She felt Jordan’s warm breath and and tired voice next to her ear.

After a while of coming back to their senses he helped her get up, swiftly lifting her on her feet, which she was silently thankful for. They briefly finished their showers mostly in silence. As Eliza had quickly thrown her clothes on, she turned to his direction. Jordan was still taking his time, eyes closed and head hung under the stream of the shower, his right hand massaging the back of his neck. Eliza had to fight the urge to rejoin him.

”See you upstairs.” Ash shot a wink at him before leaving. Jordan ran a hand through his wet hair and cursed in newly found frustration. The woman seemed to have found a way to push his buttons, perhaps unintentionally.

After brushing off with a towel, Thermite slowly got dressed and exited the shower. He was still fantasizing about her soaped up body until a mocking British voice snapped him back to reality.

„You two should be more careful. Six would be a ray of fuckin’ sunshine if two of her best American ops ended up slipping in the showers and breaking their necks while shagging.”

Thermite snapped his head to the direction of the voice and saw his British teammate Smoke coming towards him, grinning his head off. The man was dressed in sweatpants and an SAS T-Shirt with a wet towel thrown over his shoulder, indicating that he had just finished showering.

„The fuck you’re talking about?” Thermite tried to feign innocence as much as he could.

„Jordan, I could hear you in the bloody showers on the other side of the floor. Do you have any idea how good the acoustics are in this place? Naturally, I was interested to see which two of us are going at it like rabbits so I took a detour on the way back up.” The Brit was barely containing his laughter. „Will make for an interesting subject over breakfast.”

Thermite’s face slightly flushed. „Listen, James, you tell this to anyone, even your service buddies, and I’ll make you eat one of your goddamn canisters.” He squared up to the SAS operator. Jordan was bigger than him, but the Brit had been a boxer for quite a long time.

James barked in laughter. „Jesus, mate, calm down, I’m just muckin’ about. What do you have to be embarrassed about anyway? All in all, from what I’ve heard, Ash had a great time.” Thermite glared daggers into him. Smoke suddenly turned serious. „Listen, whatever happens between you two is your business, I won’t put my nose in it. And no, won’t gossip like a bloody nonce to anyone. So carry on.”

Jordan backed off with the bare hints of a smile. „Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to be so aggressive. It’s just that we’ve had five ops in the past two weeks and we’ve all been stressed out. Me and Eli…-Ash, we’re not really a…well, we don’t want it to be public knowledge. Anyway, you sure do know how to get on a man’s nerves.”

The Brit grinned and patted Thermite’s shoulder. „No problems, mate. But I’m serious about the shower thing. A few years ago, met a gorgeous bird at a pub, next thing you know I’m at her flat. She has this great idea of doing it in the shower and all was well for a while, until I, bloody drunk as I was, lost balance with her wrapped around me and twisted my ankle. Had to sit out the next op. Seamus never let me forget it.”

The Texan laughed. „Hey, worse ways to injure yourself, right?”

„Damn right there are. Anyway, you two, behave. I have no intention of losing sleep tonight.” James grinned at him and proceeded to the staircase. „Oh and Jordan – be a dear, will you – remind me never to go into those showers.”

* * *

 

Ash, who had just finished her plate of eggs and bacon, now sipped on a black coffee in the mess hall while focused on a laptop, running over some intel and the morning news. In her peripheral vision, she saw Thermite coming over to sit in front of her with his own half empty cup. She returned his brief „Mornin’” with a nod.

„Hey, listen…about last night…you should probably know that Porter was in the showers on the same floor and noticed.” He was straight out with it and sipped on his lukewarm coffee.

The redhead suddenly lost all interest in the laptop. Her eyes shot up, glaring with frustration. „Are you sure?” Thermite nodded. „Fuck. I knew it wasn’t smart to-„

„Relax. James walked up to me, shortly after you left. He was busting my balls about it, but otherwise, he knows it’s nobody’s business. He promised me he won’t tell anyone.”

Ash wasn’t quite sure about it, but she felt somewhat relieved. She knew that while Porter was a troublemaker, he was trustworthy and a man of his word. „Jordan, can I have a word, outside?”

As the pair set down their coffees and moved towards the exit, they saw Hibana walking towards them to the mess hall. By the look of the bags under her eyes, it was evident she had just returned from an assignment.

„Jordan, Eliza. Good morning.” The Japanese operator was tired but polite as always.

„Mornin’, Yumiko. How you’re doing?” Thermite returned the greeting first.

„A bit jetlagged, but nothing a strong cup of coffee won’t fix. We had a good few days, by the book target elimination. I heard you guys had problems though. How is Elias?”

„He’s sitting now in the medbay, though I’m not sure whether Gustave is monitoring his gunshot wound or his hangover.” Jordan wore a smile, remembering the festivities that went on deep into the night.

Yumiko feigned offense. „Oh great, you threw a party without me while I dodged bullets halfway across the world? I’ll expect a formal apology until lunch.” She playfully slapped the Texan’s shoulder. „I’ll go see him after having breakfast.” Hibana proceeded towards the mess hall.

Eliza liked Yumiko and respected her a lot. She had the gift of making people work together despite their best interest, her various experiences all over the world had made her perceptive and open to other viewpoints and personalities, something that Eliza admittedly lacked. Yumiko looked younger than her age, but her talent and background made her invaluable to the team. She had worked with Jordan in developing her gadget and Eliza suspected that she had an attraction towards Thermite, though the man didn’t speak of her in a personal sense, other than the fact that she is a great colleague and very creative.

They went outside and lit their cigarettes. Their smoke breaks seemed to had become sort of a one-on-one escape for them, a way to go over game plans.

„By the way, that’s a nice shade of purple on your neck.” Jordan said, clearly amused.

Eliza looked at her reflection in the nearest window and saw a purple bruise of her neck that now wasn’t covered by her collar. Something that looked obviously formed by another person’s mouth.

„Seriously, Jordan? You could’ve said something before.” Ash was obviously annoyed, dragging the collar of her shirt upwards to try and conceal the bruise.

„I don’t know, I think it suits you. Brings back nice images as well.” Thermite was barely containing his laughter.

„Idiot.” Eliza pretended to be more angry than she truly was. She pressed the bruise slightly while checking it out. It hurt a little, shooting a jolt of arousal through her body. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.

Jordan was examining her carefully, hands on hips with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, and brought her out of her pleasant memories. „So, you wanted to talk about something other than my teeth marks on your neck, I presume?”

„I thought about that problem we talked about yesterday. Overextending, as you put it. I threw some ideas together. Minor restructuring, more effective decision making. We should talk about it and then go to Six.” Eliza exhaled smoke, deep in thought.

Jordan tried to ignore the way her lips parted to wrap around the cigarette. „Well, I’m flattered you’d take interest in my opinion. I was clear that I’m all for it.”

„Sure, but we should probably fare better if it weren’t just the two of us. I was wondering who could we bring along to help convince Six. I’m well aware of everyone’s skills, but it seems like you…know them better in terms of their personalities, I guess.” Ash looked away. Jordan was quite aware of how difficult it was for her to admit her shortcomings. And while Eliza was an excellent leader operationally, she was more of a type to lead by example, while Jordan valued leading through team bonding.

„They all like you, ‘Liza. I just drink with them more.”

Ash managed a half-smile.

„So, if you’re asking me who to take with us, hmmm…” Jordan continued. „Well, my choice would be the most senior members of some units. Gilles, Baker…uh, probably not Marius or Dom, better take Monica from GSG, she’s the most level headed. Yumiko’s good at persuading. Bring Glazkov, he can be a goddamn wordsmith, and he was the most pissed about Elias getting shot. Vincente, definitely. And ask Mei Lin, if she’s here. That would be all, we don’t need a small army for a discussion.”

Ash nodded at his suggestions. „Good choices. I’m probably going to ask Gustave as well, he’s the one who has to patch some of us up. I’ll see you in the meeting room to go over a few talking points in, say, half an hour?” She extinguished her cigarette.

„Oh yeah, and one more thing.” She turned back to face him. He furrowed his brows at her, silent, cigarette dangling from his lips. She both liked and hated his Eastwood-ish charm. „Good time last night.”

Jordan smirked and Eliza knew exactly what kind of an image he recalled. „Yeah, about that, I was kinda disappointed you disappeared at the end of the night. Wouldn’t have said no to round two.”

She was glad he took this with humor and avoided the potential awkwardness. „After all that? I was dead tired and full of like five glasses of scotch. I wasn’t up for anything other than falling asleep.”

„Well, you always know where to find me. And, ‘Liza?”

„Yeah?”

„You got quite a few of those, don’t you?” Jordan’s relaxed look had shifted to a darker one. He suddenly leaned towards the redhead and brushed his thumb across the purple bruise on her neck.

Eliza didn’t move, but drew in a sharp breath which he surely noticed. She felt him press the bruise harder, sending a jolt of slight pain and excitement through her body. The woman held her teammate’s gaze.

„How about we leave this for another time? Maybe I’ll give you some too,” Ash tried to keep a composed tone.

„Mhmm, sure. I’ll have something to think about in the meantime.” He sounded almost preoccupied, running his finger over her throat for good measure, observing her reactions.

She knows she betrayed something. Eliza still fought her realization that Jordan ended up having a bigger hold over her than she intended or wanted to, back when their personal relationship still only amounted to a random one night (or, more precisely, fight) stand. But she couldn’t let him win so easily. So Ash did what she still could and walked away, back inside to hide behind the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the slight delay, I wanted to at least go over 4k words for these two idiots. 
> 
> I can totally imagine Smoke being an absolute shithead about knowing a juicy piece of gossip like this. 
> 
> I don't know whether there will be a coherent storyline yet since I originally intended this to be a one shot, though I'm trying to involve their professional lives and integrate other operators in this, so that it wouldn't be all about banging.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Rainbow is back to business as usual, kicking ass and taking names, but all kinds of tempers flare between the operators during their downtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finally done with university work, so I can get back to writing this. Sorry for the hiatus.

There are some sounds that are welcomed and some that are abhorred. The unmistakable sound of a beeping C4 charge in close proximity to you is clearly in the latter category. But the deafening blast in makes when it goes off is another thing entirely.

As Jordan received the shockwave of the explosive and flew back, he at least acknowledged the fact that he heard the blast – that would mean he was still alive and mostly intact. He felt the back of his head hit the floor and registered pain, acknowledging that his helmet had flown away due to the impact of the blast.

Out of sheer reflex, Jordan went for his M45 on his thigh and aimed in the general vicinity of the door that was now blown open by the C4 on the other side. He registered a target and with impressive reflexes, especially for a man who was a few inches away from being blown to bits, squeezed the trigger that sent a bullet to the terrorist’s head. Immediately he saw another target approaching, but before he could squeeze the trigger again, he heard a rifle go off right next to him, eliminating the Tango instantly. Jordan then felt a hand grab his collar and drag him up with surprising force. _Time to get up,_ he realized and rose upright with newfound strength.

„You alright there? That was one hell of a blast.” Eliza still had her hand on his shoulder.

„I had it covered. But thanks for the assist.”

Ash winked at him and motioned to proceed further. Thermite followed suit, feeling the familiar and welcomed rush of adrenaline. As they slowly moved down the hallway, two targets ran out of a nearby staircase and were met with the firing squad in the form of the two FBI operators. Shortly after the thud of the bodies on the floor, both teammates heard the sharp voice of Zofia Bosak, their Polish point woman.

„Hostage secured. Moving towards the extraction, check your targets.”

„Copy that, we’re doing a sweep, expect us behind you.” Ash replied and motioned for her Texan colleague to stack up next to the door in front of them. They positioned themselves on each side of the door, listened for any sounds that could give away targets and nodded at each other after hearing nothing. Jordan stood back and with massive ferocity gave the wooden door a kick, which made it fly out of its hinges and land a few feet inside the room. Ash rushed in and after doing a 180 degree scan, noticed no targets. However, before she could make one more step, the operator was yanked back with force that made her stumble and almost drop her rifle. „Hey, what the fuck?”

Her teammate’s face expression was unreadable due to his mask, but Thermite motioned towards the area where she was about to walk into. „Under the table. Nasty surprise.”

Eliza let go of her partner’s arm and looked towards the area in question. And there, right as rain, was a nail bomb hidden right besides the leg of a table. It was connected to a razor thin wire, that crossed the part of the room she was about to enter. Apparently the terrorists couldn’t afford claymores, so they let their imagination run wild. It probably wouldn’t kill her, but the injuries to her legs could be devastating.

„Shit, thanks. Can’t believe I didn’t notice it.”

Jordan smiled at her, even though she couldn’t possibly see it. He was well aware of how hard Eliza took any mistakes. „We’re even now.” He extended a bent arm, hand clenched in a fist towards her and Eliza couldn’t help but grin as she bumped it.

„Really? Fist bumps? Are we back in Los Angeles?” Ash adopted a mocking tone.

„Well, we’re kicking down doors and rescuing some rich bastard from a bunch of lunatics. This might as well be LA. Though we get to shoot more people.”

„Always works for me.”

Thermite barked out a laugh and switched to the radio. „Team, we’ve been running into some makeshift devices, watch out for traps, how copy?”

„IQ here, I’m scouting for those, good copy, over.” The German woman was working the floor above them.

This mission, along with the few ones they had to deal with in the previous weeks, was going perfectly according to plan. They had a good, long talk with Six and she agreed to review the regulations on which missions demand the involvement from Team Rainbow. The team was also about to bring new, experienced operators in the team from the famed Italian GIS. Blackbeard and Smoke already had the plans to haze both of the poor bastards. Overall, Six was a very reasonable woman, having had some military experience herself as well, she understood the toll this job takes on the person both physically and mentally.

As they cleared room after room, they became more at ease. Soon, Zofia radioed in that the hostage was safe and secure in the extraction helicopter. Ash and Thermite were minutes away from their ride home as they heard panicked voices in a closed room. Without any exchange of words needed, they instantly stacked up to the door and Ash quickly planted a breaching charge. Few seconds later, the door was turned into shrapnel with a deafening sound.

This time, it was Jordan’s turn to take point. He spotted two targets, but, interestingly enough, they were crouched next to the window, observing the team’s helicopter. There was a mounted .50 cal machine gun on the window, enough firepower to tear through the chopper. So the fuckers waited for them to be sitting ducks.

Thermite’s blood boiled so hot that he was glad to see one of them go for a pistol. He instantly sent a bullet to his face, getting brain matter all over the man’s buddy. The other guy was frozen in fear and raised his hands up, his pale face painted with red blood.

„Don’t shoot! I surrender!” he exclaimed in broken English. Both Ash and Thermite wanted nothing more than to shoot the guy and be done with it – since there’s no way in hell he’d give the chance of surrender to anyone of team Rainbow – but regulations were strict about having to accept surrender from anyone who asks for it.

Jordan leaned down, grabbed the shaking man by the neck and slammed him against the wall. „Listen up. You try anything I don’t like, I’ll shove your face against the helicopter blades. Understand?” The expression on the terrorist’s face made Ash suppress a laugh.

* * *

Their return to base went down without a hitch. Six was pleasantly surprised that they managed to bring back a terrorist alive. This job was first and foremost about intel, and anything they could extract might save lives. With an amused „Give him hell, guys” Jordan dropped their haul off to the interrogation team. Could be that soon enough the bastard will wish he went for his gun instead of letting himself be captured.

Meanwhile, Ying, one of the newest additions to the team, came up to Ash and tapped her shoulder. „Eliza? Thanks for watching our backs. We were lucky to have both you and Jordan.”

Ying was a very experienced operator and Eliza appreciated her praise, even though she tried not to show it. „Back at you. Great job out there all around. We couldn’t pull off such a quick extraction without your help.” Which was absolutely true. Ying’s flash charges were a godsend in situations where a quick entry is necessary.

Eliza couldn’t help but smile when walking through the base. Spirits were typically high after a successful op and rivalries were forgotten.  She wanted nothing more than a cold beer, a meal and friendly banter among her colleagues.

The FBI operator walked into the equipment room to leave her gear and kevlar, only to spot her Texan colleague there. Jordan had set his gear in the locker, but was visibly wincing when trying to take off his vest. His eyes were squeezed together, betraying a pained expression, and his sweat covered forehead was pressed against the locker in front of him. She could hear some barely audible curses whispered.

„You good?” Her voice made his head snap instantly towards her direction. Jordan straightened out, his face instantly changing from pained to normal.

„Uhh, yeah, I’m alright. Just need to get this shit off me. Doc said I might have bruised ribs, so that’s kinda getting in the way.” His tone was cheery, but betrayed frustration.

„Yeah, you did take one hell of a shockwave back there.” Ash observed him trying to reach the fasteners on the side of the vest, trying to move as little as possible to not make the pain worse.

„I’m feeling it now that the adrenaline wore off. No worries, nothing a pain pill and some scotch won’t fix.” His self assured tone was cut short by a jolt of pain. „Son of a bitch…”

Eliza wasn’t one for immeasurable sympathy, but she felt off seeing her usually immovable colleague in pain. „Let me help you with that.”

„Nah, it’s fine, I’ll handle…” The stern look on her face made Jordan reconsider. „Alright, fuck it. Get this shit off me.”

Eliza rolled her eyes and walked up to her teammate. Thermite was surrounded by the typical smell of sweat and gunpowder that she had begun to instantly associate with him. „Lift up your arms.”

Jordan smirked. „I’ve noticed that you have the knack for sounding like you’re bossing people around even when being helpful.”

„Not gonna apologize.” Eliza opened a fastener, hearing him breathe easier now.

„Eh, I kinda like it anyway.”

Eliza shot him a questioning look. „Yeah, well, next time be more careful, or bruised ribs will be the least of your concerns. Maybe all those thermite charges have had an effect on your hearing? Turn around, I’ll do the other side.”

Jordan obeyed. „Nope, just got unlucky. All my senses are in excellent condition, thank you very much.”

„Oh, I don’t know whether I can trust your opinions on your health, considering you don’t even bother to invest in basic stuff like gloves.”

Jordan looked down on his shorter colleague. „Since when are you so concerned with my well-being? Besides, I’m sure you can attest to the fact that my hands work just fine.” His voice had a clearly teasing tone.

Eliza didn’t miss a beat. „I’m concerned with your performance.” She „accidentally” tapped the side of his torso and heard him grunt in pain. „And I wouldn’t act like a smartass if I were you. Let’s get this thing off.”

She felt her teammate exhale in pleasure as she took the heavy vest off. Thermite carefully felt up the area around his ribs. Eliza tried to ignore the way his muscles flexed under his distractingly tight undershirt.

„Fuck, that feels a lot better. Thank you, ‘Liza. I owe you a beer.” He looked at her face just in time to still notice her eyes following the way the fabric of his shirt clung to his torso. „Uh, do you need help with yours?”

Eliza rapidly lifted her eyes to his face and noticed his self-assured smirk. She hoped Jordan hadn’t noticed the slight flush that crept up to her face. „Oh, it’s nothing, I’m just…coming down from the adrenaline. You know how it is.” The redhead rapidly turned around and walked to her own locker across from his. She could almost feel his smug expression despite not seeing his face.

„Yeah, _sure_. Adrenaline.”

Eliza didn’t feel like honoring him with a response. She quickly unbuckled her own armor, relaxing as the weight of the plates was gone. The woman tossed her hat off and ran her fingers through her red hair, stretching her neck in pleasure. In her peripheral vision, she noticed that the man behind her had leaned against his own locker and watched her intently, with crossed arms.

„See you in the lounge?” Ash was perfectly aware of the hints her colleague was dropping, but she still stubbornly chose to ignore the events that had previously transpired between her and Jordan.

„Okay. If that’s what you want,” Jordan shrugged.

„What do you mean, if that’s what I want”?

„You know, I wasn’t aware someone could still make you blush.” His teasing tone was ripe with the exact kinds of undertones she missed so much, to her own displeasure.

Eliza sharply turned around. „Looks to me like that explosion messed with you more than you admit. The hell did I blush.”

„You’re doing it right now.”

Eliza crossed the room in a few strides and came up so close to Jordan that she could feel his breath on her face and the sweat on his skin. She locked eyes with the taller operator as sternly as she could. „Am I?”

Jordan uncrossed his arms and stood straight up, becoming even taller than her. His icy eyes, now glowing with interest, drifted down from her eyes to her lips and back up.

Jordan opened his mouth to say something, but whatever smug comment he wanted to make was cut off by her soft lips on his mouth, pressing against him in determination to prove that he’s not the one in charge here, that his effect on her isn’t as strong as he thinks, that she can make him lose control as much as he can drive her crazy. Eliza wore a devilish smile pressed against his lips as she heard a surprised groan escape Jordan and felt his large calloused hands grab her hips and press her against his body, like he had missed this so badly.

Eliza pressed against him harder, driving his body against the locker with a thud. She hummed in satisfaction as she slipped her tongue into Jordan’s open mouth, enjoying the taste of the man. The redhead let her hands roam free, first across his sculpted, hard torso that she oh so enjoyed, then over his bearded jaw, then through the buzzcut on the sides of his head until her fingers settled in his longer dark hair on top.

Jordan enjoyed the way she touched him with no hesitation, with hints of aggressiveness and ownership. The woman’s actions only spurred him on as he met her tongue with his and slipped one hand under her shirt, running it across her soft back.

She gasped at the sensation of his scarred hand possessively running over her skin. Eliza knew how to drive him insane; she pressed her knee to his crotch which was evidently hardening, and that only fueled her ego. And then, as the image of temptation itself, she drew her mouth away from Jordan’s and ran her tongue across his lips, biting the bottom one hard enough to make his fingers grip into her flesh.

That was the final straw for Jordan’s self control. With rage-like lust, he lifted her up, reversed their positions, pressing Eliza against the locker with her legs wrapped around him. Any sort of pain the man was experiencing was put on hold now, hidden in some corner of his subconscious. He pressed his face to her neck, inhaling her smell that had driven him crazy the entire past few weeks and put his skilled mouth to work, sucking on the soft skin there.

As much as Eliza loved the sensation of his lips marking her and his beard rubbing against her skin, she pulled his hair as a warning sign. „Jordan,” she gasped out, „if you give me a bruise again, I’ll walk out and leave you here to jerk off.”

He responded with a deep, dark laugh, his lips still against her neck. „After I’m through, you won’t be able to walk at all, so shut up.”

Eliza felt a fire light inside her. She needed this, _badly_ , and she could feel herself caring less and less about the fact that the door of the room wasn’t even locked.

Jordan continued to explore her neck and clavicle with his mouth, turning Eliza’s pale skin to red. She bit back a curse as his right hand let go of her ass and trailed towards the waist of her pants. The Texan’s fingers lingered around the hem of her combat cargos until he unbuttoned them and snaked his hand inside to feel her. Eliza was incredibly wet already as he felt her up through the fabric of her panties. He would’ve teased her on any other occasion, but his need was growing more insistent by the second. Jordan sucked on the skin of her neck as he started to rub her clit, enjoying the delicious sound of her gasp in his ear, and then…

„Eliza? Jordan? You there?” the usually friendly but now _really_ unwelcome voice of Miles Campbell echoed through the hallway near the equipment room. „You can’t miss this!”

„You have _got_ to be fucking kidding me.” Eliza whispered in Jordan’s ear with a tone that was dripping with frustration. She was squeezing his bicep so hard he was sure it’ll leave marks.

Jordan meanwhile clenched his fists together and was contemplating launching one against the locker behind them. „’Liza, he needs to get the fuck out of here. _Now_.”

„He’s gonna come in here. Get off.” Eliza pushed the exasperated man aside as he let her go and buttoned up her pants, trying to ignore the persistent ache between her legs. The skin on her neck was reddened, thanks to Jordan’s mouth, but she hoped Miles wouldn’t give it much thought. „And get yourself together, big man.” She motioned towards Jordan’s evidently uncomfortable crotch which was something that’s harder to miss.

He grumbled something in anger and sat down, tossing his kevlar vest over his lap. Just in the nick of time, because Miles entered without knocking, clearly excited about something.

„Jesus, how long does it take for you guys to change? Whatever, doesn’t matter, both of you need to come with me to the training facility.”

„This better be a matter of life and death,” Jordan’s tone signified that he wasn’t even trying to hide his frustration. Eliza shot him a look of warning.

„I mean if you don’t want to see the SAS and GIGN punch each other’s lights out…”

„Wait, what? Why?” Eliza’s interest had peaked and even Jordan’s eyes flared up.

„Supposedly the new guy, Flament, pissed off Baker and they’re all squaring off now. We need people to help settle them down before it turns bad.”

Eliza raised her eyebrows and turned to her Texan teammate. „Okay, I need to see this. Jordan?”

„50 bucks on Mike?”

„Likewise.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for commenting and leaving kudos, I was honestly astounded by all the support, you guys are awesome.
> 
> I was really interested in that little piece of lore Ubisoft mentioned about the argument between the SAS and GIGN. You're bound to have sparks when you put all these personalities in a room and it would be really interesting to explore that.
> 
> If you're interested in my tumblr, it's https://center-axis-relock.tumblr.com/. It's totally new so there isn't much on it, but I'm excited to post and share RS Siege related things.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jordan and Eliza see what the fuss is about in the training area and decide to get a room, for once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've ever written. Sort of making up for the delay. Hope you enjoy it. As always, feedback is immensely appreciated.

The scene that unraveled in front of the three FBI agents in the Team Rainbow CQC facility reminded them more of a seedy pub in some rundown part of town as opposed to a professional environment for highly trained individuals. Two groups were yelling at each other in a mix between English and French, varying between blunt threats and insults like two rival gangs of football hooligans, hoping to prove their worth. Certain two men where at the center of it, with Mike Baker absolutely fuming, despite usually being calm and collected. The floor of the gym was stained bright red, blood belonging to Olivier „Lion” Flament, who wore a death glare and a broken nose. Lion, furious enough to do justice to his nickname, was being held back by Gilles Toure, his best (and only) friend on the team. The usually calm French operator known as Twitch was standing next to them, carefully watching, though her pose signified that she wouldn’t hesitate to throw down with the larger men in front of her. She was backed up by Finka, who was being particularly aggressive, and Rook, who never failed to defend a comrade. Doc, being the levelheaded man that he is, tried to defuse the situation, currently standing between the GIGN and Baker’s boys, all of whom were ready to throw hands, particularly James, who wore a rather smug smile.

The SAS and GIGN weren’t the only ones in the room – Tachanka was taking a break from his set, looking at the circus in front of him with an amused expression. Blackbeard and Vigil were doing the same while discussing whether to interfere and even Dokkaebi had taken off her headphones, watching her teammates with a spark in her eyes like a cage fight onlooker, debating which fighter she can put her money on.

„What happened?” Ash knew there was no point in engaging with the crowd so she asked Grace.

„Apparently Mike wanted to talk about Olivier’s problems adapting to the new team. Seemed like it came out of good will, since he is indeed keeping to himself. I feel like Mike sort of implied that Lion needs some work to adapt to the psychological weight of this job and Flament got defensive, started to yell.”

Grace didn’t take her eyes off the crowd and continued. „Flament said something about it not being the 80s anymore and Mike needing to retire. Called him a…the word is, con-aise, I think? Then Mike swung, it connected and everyone jumped in the middle.”

Meanwhile, Jordan’s leadership persona had taken over once he had recognized that the situation was getting too heated, so he charged out in the middle of the crowd next to Doc, separating the two sides by stretched hands. „Alright, boys, let’s back off! Leave that for the bad guys.”

Oliver tried his best to get past Jordan, but the sheer strength of Montagne and Rook holding him back was too much to overcome. „You got lucky, vieux fils de pute!” The usually distant Frenchman was positively furious, blood running down his face.

„This is your last day on this team, you fucking muppet!” Baker yelled in thick accent and Jordan had to face the difficult task of blocking both him and Sledge, who was also ready to throw a punch a moment’s notice.

„Back the fuck up, Mike, you know better! And you,” Jordan’s head turned towards Lion. „Mike can be one annoying geezer, but if I have to choose between knocking out him or you, I will lay you out 10 times out of 10, mark my words. Take him outside.” Flament’s eyes sparkled with rage, the red river of blood beneath his nose just accentuating the anger, but he drew a deep breath and backed off. Gilles threw his arm around his shoulders and dragged him out of the room.

Doc tapped Jordan’s shoulder. „Thanks for the assist, Jordan. I thought I was gonna get trampled. Though Flament probably hates your guts right now.”

„I couldn’t care less what the FNG thinks about me.”

„That makes two of us.” Doc’s grudge against Flament was already well known within the team.

„Damnit, Jordan, right when it was getting good.” Eliza’s voice joined the crowd.

The Texan crossed his arms. „You want to stand in front of Six and explain why we let a bunch of our teammates bash each other’s faces in? Don’t think so.”

„Eh, it’d be worth the sight. Anyway, it’s over now. Do we have any other entertainment for tonight?”

Jordan absentmindedly scratched at his beard. „You know, I’m fucking starving. Maybe we could gather some people around, go to that steakhouse in town we usually go to? Might actually lighten things up, people are friendlier on full stomachs.”

„Jordan, you’re being weirdly rational today,” Blackbeard’s deep voice came in behind them. „Let me get the people together and see you guys outside in an hour?”

Jordan nodded. „It’s a plan then. Everyone, try not to punch a colleague on their way.”

* * *

The team was mostly ecstatic about the suggestion to go out to have dinner and try to mend their differences. Jordan picked out a nice little steakhouse in the city that had the space and the beer. It was a warm late evening and almost all operators were on leave for the weekend, which meant that, in the absence of a sudden major security crisis, they could spend these next few days however they wanted. It was certainly an interesting scene for the other restaurant patrons, not to mention a very lucrative evening for the place itself: the operators didn’t hold back with spending their money and always left a massive tip.

The dinner itself went well. All operators that were on the base tagged along, and even though not everyone participated in the conversation, most seemed to not have any issues with the company. Thatcher and Lion weren’t paying attention to each other, but at least there was no danger of broken noses. While the crowd was broken into smaller groups, the overall conversation weaved around politics, sports, beer brands and potential vacation destinations. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits.

However, Jordan, who was usually the life of the party and the central figure of any of their get-togethers, was weirdly silent. After having devoured his steak like a man possessed, he ordered his third beer and was now running his fingers over the half-full glass and shifting in his seat.

„You in a hurry somewhere, Jordan?” Bandit asked him over the lively debate he was having with Blitz and Lesion.

„Yeah, your girlfriend just texted me,” Jordan shot back with a smirk.

„Such awful taste in men, that poor girl,” Twitch chimed in, making the guys around laugh.

Eliza herself was in the middle of a rather heated debate between IQ and Valk about the quality of European and American beers when she spotted Jordan sending her the universally known „let’s go out for a smoke” gesture. They excused themselves from the table and went outside. Both operators stood in silence for a while. Eliza enjoyed the nice feeling of a cigarette after a good meal and caught Jordan looking at her.

„What?”

„Let’s get a hotel room.” Jordan said it rather than asked, very matter-of-factly as if saying what he wants to order for dinner.

„Don’t think they’ll find a room for all of us.”

„Funny. You know what I mean.”

Eliza wore an expression of faked innocence. „You’re meaning to tell me that you did all this just to get me off base?”

„Think you’re that important, huh?” Jordan smirked while taking a drag from his cigarette. „Alright, there might’ve been some ulterior motives.”

She pretended to seriously consider it for a while, rubbing her thumb against the cigarette. „Fine. Why not, I’m nearly finished eating anyway. Let’s get out of here.”

They went back in the restaurant and ordered more drinks to sit in there for a polite amount of time.  Soon enough, other operators started slowly leaving. Jordan and Eliza locked eyes, recognizing a chance to exit. „Alright, guys,” Eliza drank up the remnants of her beer, „I’m deathly exhausted. I think I’m going to head to a hotel, I need a decent bed and somewhere where I won’t hear sporadic training gunfire.” She stood up, busy with acknowledging all goodbyes from her teammates.

„Y’know, Eliza, I wanted to walk around downtown, maybe stop in a bar for something stronger. Might hailing the same cab?” Jordan stretched his arms, pretending to be tired.

„God, I still can’t get rid of you?” Laughter vibrated across the room. „Sure, let’s go.”

Jordan nodded and spent a minute making sure to give everyone a goodbye handshake. As they were preparing to walk away, Eliza could see James smirk and whisper something to Seamus. _That big mouthed bastard._

The night was absolutely wonderful and taxis were prevalent. They hopped in the nearest cab, both in the back seat and Jordan named the adress of a reasonably well-known three star hotel downtown. As the car proceeded down the road, she felt his hand almost innocently snake up her thigh. She rolled her eyes, but left it there.

The ride wasn’t too long and Jordan made a show of paying the cab fare. It was a middle of the road hotel, nothing too fancy, but perfectly sufficient and the room was really spacious. Jordan had went down to get some drinks to ease up the atmosphere so she had some time to relax and collect herself.  Eliza hated to admit it, but she was nervous. Not about fucking him, but about the fact that they had specifically picked out a hotel to spend a night in each other’s company, and that was different. Their encounters were usually sporadic and not preplanned.

She went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Eliza kept telling her that it’s not like she wanted to look particularly good in his eyes, besides, he had seen her sweaty, with makeup, without makeup, swearing her ass off while bleeding from a flesh wound, etc. Eliza had opted for a simple ponytail instead of her signature braid. _Easier to let loose_ , she thought. She considered it and pulled it open, letting the hair fall down over her shoulders. The woman felt like a secretary in an affair, preparing for a sordid evening. She was feeling restless and could use one of the drinks her partner promised to bring up.

Just when she was thinking about opening the window and having a cigarette, she heard the door unlock. Jordan walked in with a pack of beer under his arm and evidently in a very good mood.

„Had to run to the nearby store. Beer downstairs costs an arm and a-„ he finally saw her coming out of the bathroom, „Oh, hello, who are you? I had someone here like ten minutes ago, but you’ll do just fine.”

Eliza scoffed, though had to admit she was amused. „How about you just put the box down and leave me to it?”

Jordan did put the pack down, but sank into the large sofa in the middle of the room. „It was intended to be a compliment. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with your hair let down. You look great.”

Eliza tried to hide the smile that was forming on her face. „Not practical to do so at the work. Compliment it is, then. You don’t look too bad yourself.”

„Yeah, well, I suppose sleeping 3 hours a night adds to my appeal.”

„You know, it actually does.”

She looked him over. He looked good, real good, though he didn’t seem like particularly caring about his appearance. The man was wearing a plaid shirt, unbuttoned just enough so that she could see his dark chest hair, sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong forearms. His blue jeans were rather tight fitting, something she’d rarely see since the combat cargos they usually wore were meant to give mobility. Jordan’s scruffy beard that he apparently had let go completed the look and it suddenly clicked for Eliza just how much she wanted this.

No need to be in a hurry though. She crossed the room to sink in to the other side of the sofa, ignoring how his eyes were glued to her all the way through. She reached towards the pack of beers he had laid on the floor and opened one with a satisfying crack.

„So, here’s to a good day’s work.” Jordan extended his beer in a toast.

„At least nobody got shot this time.” Eliza clinked their bottles together.

„Well, nobody who didn’t need to.” Jordan’s lips formed into a half-smile and he drew a nice chug  from the beer, evidently relaxed.

They sat in silence for about a minute, emptying their drinks. Eliza felt the cool evening wind come in from the open window, though the room felt almost oppressively hot. She ran her fingers over the condensed surface of the bottle.

Jordan’s mild Southern accent broke the silence. „So, I guess we have a few days off, huh.”

„Unless someone decides to start an international crisis, yeah.”

„Huh. Good, I guess. I never really do anything on my off days. Just sit and drink, I suppose.” Jordan looked out of the window, enjoying the breeze and the cold drink.

That felt weird. Eliza had never really asked him about his life off work. „Well, then we’re both in our element right now.”

Jordan smiled at her, raised his bottle and nodded, quietly contemplating something.

Eliza finally wanted to get something off her mind. „You know, just in case if I forgot to thank you for having my back in the mission…I am doing it now.”

To her relief, Jordan didn’t tease her. „Don’t need to. You had my back as well.”

„You had a C4 thrown at you. I stepped into an IED like someone straight out of basic training.”

„You got a point there. Whatever, forget it, we’re all in one piece. Open a second one for that?”

 _God, it’s so easy to talk to him._ „You read my mind.” She stretched her limbs, the reality of the much needed relaxation hitting her.

„I will probably demand Miles an apology for showing up at the worst times though.”

Eliza rolled her eyes and laughed. „You have to admit that the fight was amusing.”

Jordan opened both bottles against a table and handed one to her, their fingers touching briefly. „Eh, I wish someone would’ve gotten their lights knocked out.”

„Preferably Flament.” Eliza responded, taking a drink. „He shows up a few weeks ago and starts shit with day one veterans? What was he thinking?”

„He wants to prove his place. Can’t back down even against the SAS, or else you look weak.” Jordan raised the bottle to his lips and ran a hand across the couch absentmindedly. „He has some issues he should work out. Hope he does. Seems like a fine soldier.”

„I don’t doubt his skills, just his professionalism. But here’s to the man.” Eliza raised the bottle at nothing. „From what I’ve heard, he’s had some bad stuff he wants to atone for.”

„Don’t we all.”

„What, you want to talk about it?” She didn’t mean the question to be as smug as it came out.

„Nah, I just said it to add to my mystery.” His blue eyes shifted from the bottle in his hand to her. „Besides, I think none of us are here to talk.”

„You’re right on many things today, Jordan.”

Fuck it. It’s nice to talk to him, but they had more pressing business. Eliza drank up the rest of the beer in one breath, getting a deja vu from her college days.

Jordan regarded her amusingly. „You keep impressing me, ‘Liza.”

She stood up, stretched out and slowly dropped to her knees next to the sofa. „You’re gonna keep talking?”

„If you’re gonna do what you look like you will, I’m not gonna say a word if you don’t want me to.”

The remnants of combat high, the booze and the sheer comfort of his presence clouded her mind. She ran her eyes across his torso and felt him through his jeans. He was evidently hardening already, sharp intake of breath a reaction to her touch. Jordan’s belt was undone with a sharp click. His black boxer briefs where deliciously stretching with his half hard cock. _What a sight._

Without hesitation she palmed him through the fabric, enjoying the feeling of his twitching hot flesh beneath. Jordan felt her squeeze him and whispered a barely audible curse, pressing his hips towards her hand. Eliza pulled down his underwear and freed his throbbing cock from its confines. The sight of it was enough to make her acutely feel how wet she had gotten so quickly. She wanted to have him inside her, to feel him stretch her out so delightfully as he could, a sensation that had crept in the dark corners of her mind sometimes when she wasn’t occupied by work. But first, she had other things in mind.

She licked her palm and wrapped her slender fingers around his cock, admiring the way his large size looked in her hand. She started stroking his length slowly, waiting for his breath to hitch. _There it was._ As composed as Jordan was in his professional life, she knew how to pick him apart. Eliza rubbed a particularly sensitive spot near the tip of his cock. The Texan couldn’t hold back his groan.

„Someone’s in a generous mood today,” Jordan’s words were confident, but his fingers were dug into the sofa and his hips ever so slightly bucked against her hand.

„I’m contemplating that right now.” Eliza ran her tightly squeezed hand down his shaft again, admiring the way his flesh reacted. _God, he has such a beautiful cock, the bastard._

„Please do make a decision quickly. I’ll behave.” He shot one of his million dollar smiles at her. „At least for a while.”

Instead of further debating the ridiculous prospect of a well-behaved Jordan Trace, she felt her mouth water. Following her instinct, she leaned down and dragged her tongue from the base of his length to the tip, enjoying the taste and, even more, the way he moved against her as if pleading. She took the tip of his cock in her mouth and looked up at his face, mischief on her features. Her teammate’s bright blue eyes were wide from the haze of lust, mouth agape as his breathing intensified.

Enjoying the power she held over him, Eliza took him further in her mouth, spurred on by the deep, primal sound that came from his chest. He was too big to take all in with one go, but damned if she didn’t love a challenge.

Relishing the feeling of his heavy cock in her mouth, she suddenly removed it from her mouth with a pop, followed by Jordan’s groan of protest. She squeezed him and ran her hand across his erection in a deliciously slow manner. Eliza could tell it wouldn’t take him long to come if she continued like this. From her experience with him, the man had amazing self-control, but their diversion earlier that day in the locker room apparently left him more worked up than he wanted to admit.

„Don’t…please don’t stop.” Jordan breathed out. Looks like she was correct in her appraisal.

Eliza did stop, but was kind enough to leave her hand on his cock. „Did you just say _please_?”

„Don’t fucking tease me, this once. It’s been a long day.”

She looked at his already sweat covered face and unfocused eyes, considering something for a moment and decided to humor him for once. As she locked her lips over his shaft, she enjoyed the way he breathed out a groan.

„Fuuuck, ‘Liza, that’s…goddamn…”

She bobbed her head, her devilish mouth on his throbbing flesh, feeling him start to leak, evidently close to his release. It encouraged her on, she forced his dick even deeper, nearly starting to gag on his size and felt his fingers tangling into her hair. The woman had no qualms against letting him fuck her mouth, but he was already getting off too easy and damn if she’s not gonna tease him for at least a little while.

She released his dick from her mouth, all coated in saliva and precum. Jordan’s head snapped down, looking at her with frustrated but also pleading gaze. „C’mon, I’m close, just…”

„You want to come in my mouth, don’t you? Then I’m in charge, at least this time. Hands off.”

Jordan drew his hands into fists and dug them into the sofa. His body was twitching, powerful torso moving up and down through deep breaths.

„Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Eliza suppressed her wish to make a pun related to the situation right now and slowly took him into her mouth again, this time, determined not to stop. She moved down and up his cock faster and faster, her devilish tongue working wonders on his hot flesh. Jordan held onto the sofa for dear life, almost afraid she would deny him again if he let one of his hands try and force her deeper. He stopped holding back, his groans of _fuck, yes, please_ filling the silent room. Everything disappeared, apart from the wet heat of her mouth on him.

She felt him throb and let out a low, delicious moan. With twitching hips and incoherent murmurs, Jordan came in her mouth, riding out his peak. She could swear she heard him whisper her name. Eliza hummed, gagging around his throbbing shaft as she took his load to the very last drop. When he was finished, still twitching with aftershocks, she released his cock from her mouth, strands of cum and spit between them. Jordan managed to open his eyes and look down on her, just as she swallowed and licked her lips, making the man look positively delirious.

Eliza dragged herself up to the sofa, massaging her tired knees and reached for a beer. She gave him a sideways glance, but ended up admiring the way his body still heaved with relief, the expression on the man’s face absolutely dazed. She was enjoying her beer and the satisfaction of taking the smug bastard apart, until he finally regained the ability to speak English.

„Fuckin’ hell, ‘Liza. Your mouth can drive a man insane.” He slowly tucked himself back in, still reeling from his climax, and reached for his bottle to soothe his dry mouth.

„I could tell. Who knew that it’s so easy to make you say please?”

„Shut up and take a compliment.” Jordan ran a hand through his hair, still smiling. „I got enough time to get back at you.”

„You should get to it then. I’m getting bored.” She was starting to feel acutely aware of how turned on she was now, though she was trying to downplay it, sipping on her lukewarm beer.

„You can speed up the process, y’know, feel free to take some of those clothes off.”

Eliza sighed, but the ache between her legs begged her to do something about it, so finished off the remnants of her beer and obliged him. She threw off her boots, stood up and slowly, though not overly so, removed her shirt. Despite her being rather matter-of-fact about the removal of her clothes, Jordan’s eyes ate her up, especially focusing on the red bra that framed her breasts.

„Damn. That’s for me?” Jordan took a swig of his beer and licked his lips.

„Keep dreaming. You need to earn things like that.” She crossed her arms, pushing her breasts up.

„Oh come on. Don’t tell me I haven’t earned a few gifts here and there.” Jordan’s eyes roamed over her curves with a gleam. „Bet you picked this out thinking of me, didn’t you? That night, not so long ago, back at base. We were both wasted, but I remember every single detail.” He took another swig of the booze, relishing the memory. „How hard you came, how you moaned my name.” The Texan looked at her with a smirk and she hoped he hadn’t noticed how she shivered slightly in arousal. „I think I let you know that night that red was my color. On you, at least.”

Eliza, with all her willpower, stayed silent, holding his gaze. Holding, not denying anything he said. Then, slowly but surely, she unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down, revealing the red panties she was wearing underneath.

The bottle nearly slipped from Jordan’s fingers and a deep hum of approval broke out of him. Eliza was absolutely desperate, internally begging for him to come over and touch her, anywhere. Thankfully, he finished the beer and threw the empty bottle on the sofa. „Get on the bed,” he ordered, referring to the far side of the spacious hotel room.

„Oh, someone’s bossy now. Weren’t you begging me a few minutes ago?”

„You worked me up badly back on base. Was on edge all evening. Now I’m all good and I must say,” his eyes roamed all over her as he got up and slowly walked over „you look like you’re aching for someone to manhandle you a little bit.”

He was so close to her now that she could smell the beer on his breath. Broad-shouldered and tall, especially in comparison to her lithe and undressed form, he encompassed her. But, while another woman would be intimidated, Eliza stood defiant, hands on her hips, their eyes locked, waiting for someone to make the first move.

Jordan lost his composure first. His mouth claimed hers in a hard kiss, tongue not hesitating to explore her mouth, his hands generously grabbing her ass and lifting her without any effort. She felt the cue to wrap her legs around his waist. It had barely been hours since the last time they kissed each other like this, but Eliza realized she had already missed the way his body felt, firm and strong but always responsive to her touches. How his skin always smelled like gunpowder, sweat and fine tobacco, no matter where he was. Their kiss was messy, all spit and tongue and little sounds of satisfaction. They didn’t need any polite fooling around. These two didn’t do anything half-way.

Carrying her, Jordan stumbled in the vague direction of the bed. Suddenly, even drawing a sound of shock out of her, he let go of her ass, closed his fingers around her throat and drove her against the wall. Jordan claimed her mouth with his tongue again, grinning in a deliciously evil manner. His hand snaked down her body and felt the fabric of her panties shamelessly wet. Groaning in approval, he started rubbing his fingers against her heat.

Eliza’s head was spinning from the thrill of her arousal so much that she barely felt him throwing her on the bed. His sinfully skilled mouth left her lips to make a trail of spit across her throat. She was lost in the sensations and pressed her hips against him. Feeling his hardening cock through his pants, she was on the verge of telling him to fuck her already, when suddenly her eyes snapped open wide at the feeling of her arms being pushed together above her by a powerful hand and bound to one another by leather. _Oh, you’re in trouble now._

Jordan rose above her, admiring his work. The woman in front of him, her arms held together by his black leather belt, was flushed with arousal, yet glared daggers at her teammate.

„Very funny, Jordan.”

„”Funny” is not the word I’d use.”

Eliza tried to get up and lunge at him, but he was faster, grabbing her lower body and lifting it up, so that she ended up flopping back on the bed, unable to use her arms for support. Jordan’s smirk was absolutely devastating. „By the way, Eliza, did I mention that I went through helicopter rope suspension training? I know a few things about tying things together, so trust me, you’re not getting out of that knot unless I want you to.”

The redhead tried to pull her arms apart to no avail. The restraints weren’t too hard against her skin, but strong enough. He was no liar. „You’re such an asshole.”

„Hey, just say you don’t like this then. All you have to do is say it and I’ll untie you.” Jordan watched her carefully. She believed him. But she huffed and stayed silent, avoiding eye contact.

He didn’t let it go, obviously. „See, I knew you were wet for getting tied up. All that fire, every day, bossing people around…” His scar-covered hand traveled down from her throat to her breasts, squeezing them through the bra. „Deep down, you want to let go and be told what to do for a change.”

Eliza bit her lip, her core pulsing with desire, but managed to hold on to her wits. „Is this a psychotherapy session?”

„You’re a little under-dressed for that, aren’t you? Though, I suppose, it depends on the therapist.” He snaked a hand underneath her and unclasped her bra, throwing it away. „Well, _now_ you’re definitely under-dressed.”

Eliza already opened her mouth to say something clever in return, but it turned into a gasp as his talented mouth closed over her nipple. Alternating between sucks and bites, balancing on that border of pleasure and pain that they both oh so liked, Jordan got lost in her body. Paying attention to details, as always, he switched to her other breast, driven even more insatiable by her gasps and moans. Eliza was already turned on from sucking his cock and his teasing made it unbearable. She unashamedly ground her hips against him, hoping to get some friction against the erection he already had going on.

„Much obliged for getting me off so nicely, but I think I’m gonna take your time with you.” Jordan’s voice was all honeyed gravel.

She bit her lip, cursing quietly. Though, she had to admit, all of their previous encounters had happened in impromptu places, as quickly as possible to avoid anyone discovering them. Eliza would be lying if she hadn’t thought about having him all to herself without any risks of their teammates hearing them or walking in.

That gifted mouth left her breasts and his right hand slipped down between her legs to her aching cunt. He looked her dead in the eyes, inches away from her face with fire in his gaze. His breath reminded her of the taste of beer on his tongue. She wanted to taste it again. „You’re so fucking wet.”

„Oh, really? Some other obvious things you want to point out?” She was growing restless.

„Nah, I just want to make sure you know how desperate you look right now.”

Eliza felt a flush of anger and arousal creep up on her. „And are you gonna do something about it? Or are you just gonna stand there and play with your cock? Maybe I should think twice before being so generous next time.”

Jordan smirked, running his hand over her thigh. „I could just fuck you, finish, leave you open and leaking.” He moved down her body and his hand was replaced by his lips. „Go downstairs and order a drink, come back, make you beg to fuck you again, bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Eliza had to bite her lip to stay silent.

His mouth had traveled between her legs, his short beard deliciously dragging across her flushed skin. „Then again, I think I’d rather be a gentleman and make you squirm until you lose your fucking mind.”

Eliza let out an abrupt laugh. „If you were a gentleman, I wouldn’t be here.”

Jordan smirked against the soaked fabric between her legs. „You have a point.”

The Texan pulled her panties to the side and dragged her thumb across her slit before pushing it in. Eliza closed her eyes and moaned a silent „fuck”. He eyes peeked up at her, satisfied with her face expression and licked across her cunt in a slow, torturous fashion. She was so wet, he could push his entire cock in and fill her up so well, but the bastard seemed to have other plans going on.

Just as she was ready to curse him out again, he pulled himself back and turned her around, tossing her on her stomach, not listening to the woman’s helpless protests.

„You’re not getting off this easy. I remember quite well how much you liked getting spanked. Now, raise your pretty ass at me.” His Southern drawl was low, almost dangerous and she could feel her head spin.

„Fuck you. Make me.” Eliza wouldn’t give up without challenging him.

„Oh, good. This wouldn’t be nearly as fun if you followed orders.” He grabbed her by the hips and dragged her backside up, forcing her into a vulnerable position.

„Don’t you look like a slut now? It’s funny, back on the job you play the alpha bitch, always in control, but get you out of those boots and it’s so easy to reduce you to a quivering mess,” the man’s voice rang in her ears and all throughout her body.

His words made the persistent ache between her legs even worse, but she still maintained her stubbornness. „I could say the same about you, big man. You’re lucky you managed to tie my hands up.”

Jordan smiled, evidently enjoying that even while restrained, she could easily shoot back. „I’m so gonna enjoy you beg.”

He grabbed into her ass and then, without a warning, brought his hand down on it again, the smack reverberating across the room. She tried to keep her gasp silent, but failed. Thermite was all smugness behind her. „Goddamn, I had wanted to do this for a long time. Liked that?”

„That’s it?” she breathed back. „How about you hit me like a man, and then we’ll see.”

He spanked her again and again, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh time, each time putting more strength to it. Soon enough he mixed up the count, busy enjoying the way her body reacted to each strike, how her soft skin bounced from the power of his slaps. Her ass was growing red, matched with the panties she wore, and for a moment he considered  asking how she’s doing, until…

„Jordan.”

„Mhm?”

„I’m so fucking close, touch me, do something…”

As much as Jordan loved how she looked in her panties, it was time for them to come off. He unceremoniously took the fabric and tore it in half, ignoring the curse Eliza muttered under her breath.

Jordan pushed his fingers inside her, curling them with torturous pleasure that made her buck against his hand, soft moans spilling across her lips. He moved them in and out with slick sounds, cruelly withdrawing them and then generously filling her up again. Her arousal dripped down her thighs and all over his hand. He licked his fingers to have a taste. Couldn’t resist.

At the loss of his fingers, she shamelessly opened her legs wider and bucked towards him. Eliza was too far gone with desire, if he’s gonna tease her later about this, so be it. He obliged her, pushing two of his delightfully talented fingers all the way back inside her and curving them against the exact spot that elicited an especially loud moan out of her. When he added a third one, she was at the very brink of her orgasm, backing up desperately against his hand and moaning out words of encouragement, so _close_ …

And then he stopped, promptly drawing his fingers out of her. Eliza whimpered as she trembled and clenched around nothing, feeling robbed of her pleasure. If her hands hadn’t been tied up, she’d probably turn around and elbow him in the face.

„You fucking…why’d you stop!”

„I don’t know. Thought about having another beer and all.” Jordan’s tone was dripping with arrogant satisfaction.

„I swear, if you leave I’ll break your goddamn arm.”

He leaned in, right next to her ear. „Now here’s that attitude I like.”

She wanted to yell at him, but was cut short when he flipped her on her back again. Jordan stood up, looking her over. She looked devastatingly sexy. Arms spread above her, tied together by the black belt, red hair loose, framing her flushed face with defiant eyes but open mouth. Her gorgeous body was covered in sweat, breasts heaving due to breaths of anger and arousal. She was slick and leaking wet between her legs, open and oh so wanting. Jordan drank in the sight like it was the last thing he’d ever see.

Eliza opened her mouth to say something, but he quickly put a finger over her lips to silence her protests. Jordan winked at her and slowly but surely moved down her body, head settling between her legs. She watched him closely, internally begging him to put his mouth on her dripping heat. He looked up at her, blue eyes glistening with determination and desire. Then she gasped as she felt his tongue on her pussy, running over her in a slow, steady manner, a contrast to his usual roughness. Jordan whispered his prases, _you taste so fucking good_ , but the obsessive look on his face and the intensity with which he ate her out was more than enough. He licked at her, rubbing her clit in a delicious rhythm with his thumb, and she felt like she needed to hate the way he already knew her body so well, but his tongue on her most sensitive flesh felt so indescribably amazing. Her soft cries grew louder and louder, her gasps intensified, the room was spinning and she felt that fire build up and burn so exquisitely and then – nothing as he drew back once more, denying Eliza the peak of her pleasure again, doing that throaty laugh that she usually enjoyed but now hated.

Almost driven crazy by the torture, Eliza tried to get up, but was held down by his large hand on her stomach. She attempted to free her hands with all the effort she could gather, but with no avail. „I swear, I’ll strangle you with this fucking thing,” her words screamed bloody murder.

„You know, I might like that. Though watching you so desperate is even better.”

Eliza wanted to snap back but couldn’t. The need between her legs was unbearable. She couldn’t gather the strength. Tears of frustration were forming in her eyes and were quickly blinked away. She looked at Jordan, who was smugly licking at his fingers. She understood that he wouldn’t decide to grant her mercy out of the blue.

The woman swallowed her pride and drew in a deep breath. „Alright, shit…alright, I give up. Tell me, what do you want me to do. I can’t, don’t – don’t stop again. Please.”

Jordan paused and for a second, she was convinced that he would ignore her pleas. But then, thankfully, he slowly started to unbutton his shirt, taking his time, though Eliza couldn’t help but lick her lips at the sight of his bare torso. She wanted to taste the sweat on his skin so badly. Her eyes followed the movement of his thick muscles as he got rid of his jeans, but what truly caught her attention was the obvious massive erection that begged to be freed from his underwear.  

After tossing his clothes away, save for his boxer briefs, probably just to tease her even more, Jordan kneelt next to her naked, tied up form. He let his hand roam over her body, first across her wet heat, then up her stomach, punctuated by a few battle scars that he admired more than he’d ever let her know, then to her breasts. He grabbed one of her sweat-covered breasts and pinched one of her nipples, teasing her, eliciting a loud moan. He pressed harder, waiting for Eliza to protest but she only kept gasping. Satisfied, he shifted his hand to her throat, locking his fingers around it softly.

The redhead locked eyes with him. „Go on, choke me.” _Please. Do something._

„Can I?”

„You can do anything you want to me.”

 _God, this woman._ His mouth was suddenly on one of her breasts, biting and sucking on the tender skin, while his fingers tightened over her throat, not too hard, but just strong enough how he knew she liked it. Jordan’s mouth on her flesh, leaving marks on her with abandon, the growing ache and emptiness in her cunt, the man’s body heat and his fingers locking down on her throat just perfectly tight enough was too much for her.

„Jordan, oh god…”

„Little busy here.”

„I want-I _need_ you to make me come, please, I can’t fucking take-„

The assault on her senses changed and his right hand left her throat to finally reach the place she wanted the most. She was absolutely dripping and his fingers entered her with zero resistance. Jordan released her nipple from his lips to sit up and watch her face, her mouth opened with pleasure. He was relentless, making up to Eliza for the pleasant suffering she had to endure, flexible fingers making her squirm and bounce up and down the bed. The stretch of his fingers, his rapid rhythm and the fact that he knew where exactly to touch her made her into an absolute mess.

„Oh yes, just don’t stop-„

„Not this time.”

He was mesmerized by the way her body moved against his hand, wild and needy, but with no small amount of determination. Jordan felt his erection grow even harder, but that was secondary, he couldn’t let her down now, not after she asked him, trusted him with her pleasure.

Jordan felt her tighten down on his skilled fingers and kept curling them exactly near the spot that drove her crazy, until Eliza let off a sound that probably could be heard all across the floor. And finally, she got her release, moaning out something between „thank you” and „you bastard”, bucking against his obscenely wet hand until finally settling down on the bed, breathing as if having run a marathon.

He leaned over Eliza, the man’s large frame overshadowing her, and claimed her mouth with his, a slow, deep, passionate kiss that let her catch her breath. She sunk her teeth in his lower lip as he drew away, almost out of revenge, but instead of pain his face turned into a grin. She wasn’t going to be pliable. But, little did she know, her persistent stubbornness was what turned him on the most. Jordan had disregarded his own hard-on, but couldn’t suppress a groan as he palmed himself through his underwear.

„I owe you two, don’t I?”

Elisa, still recovering, whispered: „You better.”

He threw off his boxer briefs as quickly as he could, freeing his raging erection, spread her legs and yanked her body against his. He looked at her face, still glowing with her previous orgasm, but her eyes were on his cock, eagerly awaiting it and he knew he had to be inside her, no more ceremonies.

Jordan pushed into her, making her cry out a curse. Eliza was insanely slick inside, but his size still stretched her out enough to make a delicious jolt of pain pulsate through her, which rapidly shifted into pleasure.

He took a hold of the Eliza’s hips and drove her against him in a fast and hard pace, mercilessly drawing himself out before burying his cock all the way inside her, forcing the woman to gasp with every beat. Sweat and her wetness mingled between them, as the two operators let go and retreated back to their primal natures. Eliza opened her eyes and looked at the man before her, animalistic in his concentration and need. Drops of sweat mixed with the dark coarse hair on his chest. Even now she felt too far from him, she needed to smell his skin.

Almost as having read her mind, Jordan abruptly tangled his hand in her hair and harshly drew her up to him. On cue, she wrapped her still tied up hands over his head. Now she could bury her face against him and smell his scent, all sweat and a day’s work in kevlar armor, though a hint of cologne broke through. His cock was buried in her so deeply that she was driven crazy by every inch he moved, yet he fucked her harder and harder, knowing that she could take anything he could give her and ask for more, knowing that she would do this forever if it was possible. Knowing that, when other women would stop or shy away, she’d match him, equal as she always were.

Eliza’s nails scratched against his scalp, almost as saying _I’m close._ Jordan dug his fingers deeper into her hips, forcing himself to hold on and let her ride through the pleasure he wanted to give her. And just a heartbeat later, she was there, reaching her climax again, twisting in his firm hands and not even trying to hold in the cry that left her lips.

Jordan waited with no little effort until her cries shifted back to softer moans and let go of his self control, silencing his throaty moan by burying his mouth against her neck. The Texan’s muscles trembled with the relief of his release as he came inside her, taking in the feel of her tightness and warm body pressed against him.

Eliza felt lightheaded, her muscles exhausted and body consumed with afterglow, and she silently appreciated being able to rest against his own sweat soaked form, as she was sure that she’d collapse if she tried to get up.

„’Liza?” Jordan’s voice was raspy, face pressed against her hair.

„Yeah?”

„Three for two, what do you say?”

Eliza chuckled, tired but thoroughly relaxed. „Appreciate the offer, tough guy, but we both know you’re not doing anything from there right now.” She ran her hand through his military undercut. „Wanna let me lay down?”

„Yeah, ‘fcourse.” He lifted her still restrained arms over his head and set her down on the mattress, somewhat gently even, against his usual method of operating. Jordan withdrew himself, making cum seep out of her, though at the moment Eliza couldn’t give a shit about minor inconveniences while she was still enjoying the post-climax bliss.

She suddenly realized he was twiddling with the belt by which her hands were bound together. „Jordan, I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, but let me catch my-„

„Relax, I’m going to untie you. Or do you like it so much you want to spend all night like that?” Without receiving an answer, he released her hands, making sure to rub them a bit, even though her circulation wasn’t cut off. The gesture was unexpected and she found herself strangely appreciative.

„Are your hands alive?” he asked in a tired growl. But he actually _asked_.

She certainly enjoyed having control over all of her appendages now. „Yeah, the belt wasn’t even that tight. I was thinking of releasing myself and beating you up with it at one point.”

Jordan laid down beside her, evidently satisfied face expression, eyes gazing at the ceiling. „Hey now, leave something for round two.”

Eliza laughed. She was still wonderfully relaxed, but she also was starting to miss the body heat. She turned her head to look at him. The man was obviously in bliss, eyes closed and a half smile still on his lips, body heaving in slow breaths, covered in cooling sweat. She shouldn’t have looked, because now she was _really_ missing the feeling. The urge to reach out and touch any part of him was insistent. _Should she?_ Eliza wasn’t the one to overly show affection post sex, in fact, often the men she slept with wanted to do it more than she did, and she really appreciated that Jordan gave her the personal space. But the biggest elephant in the room was the exact nature of the relationship. They had never shown each other particular sentimentality, other than the one that exists between friends or comrades in arms. Sex was easy and fun, and she didn’t want to overstep any invisible boundaries or, even worse, cause any misunderstandings on what these diversions were.

Because that’s what she didn’t want to show to him - weakness. Anything he could use against her. She still couldn’t let down that guard. They were both cut from the same cloth: ambitious, in control, born leaders. They clicked incredibly well, but still, despite the connection they shared, they still often were mentally circling each other, almost like animals in the wild, wanting to prove their worth. Eliza knew that Jordan tended to keep his cards to himself, hide them behind jokes, an oo-rah Texan persona. Her competitive nature made her anticipate hostilities and hidden intentions and she saw through Jordan better than anyone.

But at the same time, their nature was the very reason why she was lying beside him at this moment. And for a moment, she felt a pang of disappointment that he hadn’t reached out to touch her, or run his fingers through her hair. Eliza didn’t know how she’d react. But she doubted she’d push him away.

She wanted to stop that train of thought, so she broke the silence. „You know, I’m sort of afraid of sitting up right now.”

Jordan looked at her as if trying to remember something and suddenly his eyes sparked with mischievous glee. „Oh, I think your ass can take far more abuse than that.”

She scoffed in annoyance. „How about I spank you next time, bet you won’t be making those assumptions after that.”

Again, that wonderful throaty laugh. „I’ll have to be either very foolish or very horny to let you do that.”

„You tend to be both.”

Eliza slowly sat up, her body pleasantly aching and burning but ultimately vibrating with satisfaction. She felt his hand trail down her glistening back. She looked back, flushed face framed by red hair. Jordan looked pleasantly relaxed, studying the contrast between her soft skin and his hand, covered in burn scars.

His exhausted blue eyes shifted to her face. „You’re gorgeous, you know that?”

She slapped his hand away playfully, but was unable to hide the smile that was forming on her face. „Ease up on the flattery. I’ll be right back.”

„Wait, where you’re going?”

„What, you’re gonna miss me?” She made the mistake of looking down on his sweaty, thickly muscled torso and suddenly felt like she didn’t want to get up anymore.

Jordan was still hiding behind a self-satisfied smile and sarcasm. „No. But I was wondering whether you might fetch me a beer.”

„Oh, great. Now you ruined the moment, idiot.”

„I’m just kidding. Okay, not really. But seriously, don’t take long.”

Eliza got up as her aching muscles were trying to come back to life, trying to proceed as gracefully as she could towards bathroom.

„Oh, and ‘Liza?”

„Yeah?”

„That’s a wonderful shade of red on your ass. Suits you.”

She raised her middle finger at him as she entered the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea where the Team Rainbow headquarters are supposed to be located. Some say Hereford, but that's actually the SAS home base. So I just picked a nondescript location on the East coast of the US on the outskirts of a city.  
> Anyway, I've gotten more involved in these characters and their relationship dynamic than I ever expected. I can't believe all the support I've received here. You guys are incredible.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Direct continuation. Smutty as hell, but takes a bit of a different direction as it goes on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the Game of Thrones worthy break, but I had stepped away from this chapter for a while until I sat down and finished it over the last two days. And let me say, I really, really enjoyed writing it. And not just the dirty parts.

Jordan was sitting on the edge of the open window, taking a deep drag from a cigarette. The silent murmur of CNN echoed in the background, turned on in her absence. To Eliza’s disappointment, Jordan had thrown on his boxer briefs, though she understood the need coded in any military person to reduce any vulnerabilities in the event of emergencies. She knew some soldiers who instantly got their shoes on after getting out of bed.

„Has the world ended while I was away?”

He turned his head and ran his eyes over her still naked form. „Don’t think I’d even notice it right now.”

Eliza scoffed at the corny remark. „Jesus, Jordan, you’re better than that.” She picked up the man’s plaid shirt and threw it over her, much to Jordan’s dismay, covering herself with the garment that was far too large for her.

„What? Don’t look at me like that. I’m not gonna stand next to the window with everything on display.” She fished a cigarette pack out of the pocket of her discarded pants, also picking up the pistol that she so carelessly dropped on the floor, and set it on the nearest table.

„Maybe you have a point. I don’t know, I find it hard to care about anything tonight.” Jordan extended his lit Zippo to light up her smoke, one of the gentleman-like gestures he subconsciously tended to do, as she had picked up during recent months. Not that she paid particular attention to how he acts towards her. At least that’s what she tried to tell herself.

Eliza blew out the smoke, engulfing them both in it. The weather was getting oppressively warm, even with the open window. The sound of the TV in the background was drowned out by the voices of tipsy people in the street below and an airplane flying over the hotel.

„It’s a nice evening outside,” she remarked.

„Well, we’re not getting shot at,” Jordan shrugged.

„Don’t worry, the night is still young.”

„I reckon should consider yourself lucky then,” his eyes ran down her neckline, studying the way his open button-down shirt barely covered her breasts.

„You’re saying you can keep this up? I’ll have more battle scars after this than that after that op in Cambridge.” She absentmindedly rubbed at the hickey on her neck.

„Oh, don’t pretend you don’t love every second of it.” Jordan’s gravelly Texan drawl was full of self-satisfaction.

Eliza flushed slightly, but held his gaze. „I think I made it obvious to you that I was having a pretty good time. Hopefully no angry residents are gonna be knocking at the door.”

„They’ll have to manage. I must say, there are worse things to hear than Eliza Cohen thoroughly enjoying herself.” His smirk was both endearing and annoying.

„Jordan, you’re just a bowl of compliments, aren’t you? Though for some reason, you always seem to compliment yourself best.”

„Hey, someone has to.”

Eliza raised her eyebrows. „Oh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

„Nothin’. Forget it.”

She adopted a shamelessly teasing tone. „Really? Turns out that the tough guy wants to be showered with compliments? Should I sing praises from the balcony about how good you are in bed?”

Feigning annoyance, the man couldn’t hide his amusement himself. „Go on. You done?”

„Aww, did you get your feelings hurt?”

„You’re gonna get spanked again,” his eyes flashed with threatening mischief.

„Oh, don’t encourage me.” Eliza’s voice dripped with challenge.

„You weren’t so smug with your face down on the bed.”

„Touche.” She blew out smoke with a smile and studied his face. „Jordan, if you’re really wondering, there’s a reason I’m spending my night here and it’s definitely not because of your smartass remarks.”

He briefly looked at her, mouth forming in a smile, and tossed his cigarette out of the window. „Alright, alright. I’ll go fix us something stronger. Hopefully the minibar is stocked.” Unsurprisingly, the man treated himself to a light smack on her ass and moved to scout out the bottles on offer.

Meanwhile, Eliza shut the TV off, since the news had already reached another loop and apparently all was well and right with the world, as much has it could be. As she laid on the bed, Jordan brought two glasses of whiskey, full of ice to soothe their taste buds on the warm night, and scooted in next to her, the bed bouncing with his weight.

„You know, when I met you, I was one hundred percent sure you’re the kind of guy to have a Marine Corps tattoo somewhere,” she gestured towards his upper arm, taking her glass from him.

Jordan smiled and looked over the emblem, etched into his skin. „This thing? Yeah, I got it before my first tour. Most of my friends from basic got one.” He paused with a suddenly solemn expression, as if wanting to say something else, but then took a drink. „Anyway, I’m surprised you don’t have any.”

„Yeah, I was never too good making decisions with long lasting consequences.”

„Neither was I. Cheers for that.” He winked at her and their glasses clinked together.

They enjoyed their drinks together in silence. Even though Jordan had an admittedly big mouth, he felt like he could pleasantly share time and place with her with no words needed. Well, until he watched her lips touch the glass and empty the remnants of the liquor, punctuated with a satisfied exhale.

„I assume you’re done catching your breath?” His eyes darted down her half naked body, that she barely bothered to conceal right now.

„Jesus, Jordan. Is it our last night alive or something?”

„That could be a safe assumption, in our profession.”

He had a point. „Alright, break’s over.” Eliza smirked as she watched him eagerly finish his drink and set it aside.

„You know what I’ve grown to like about you?” Jordan felt his heartbeat quicken as she slid nearer his body. „You and me seem to think alike, at least when it comes to important stuff.”

His hand started to drift across her hip, but she grabbed it and set it aside. „Let me stop you there. You had your fun. Now I’ll have mine.”

„MY fun? ‘Liza, don’t you recall that I had you-„ his breath hitched and he couldn’t stop a groan as she rapidly moved her hand down and started to massage his crotch. „-screaming and trashing like a goddamn banshee.”

„I do. And you can be damn sure I’ll show my appreciation.” She leaned down to him, their lips so close she could feel his breath running over her. „But let’s not pretend you’re the only one who gets off on being in charge.”

Jordan licked his lips, looking down on hers. But she leaned away.

„Do your worst then, ma’am.”

„I don’t think you can handle my worst,” Eliza cooed as she ran her finger across the dark hair covering his powerfully built chest. „And you’re lucky I’m in a good mood today.”

„I wish I was that lucky,” Jordan stood by the challenge.

Eliza shifted her body and sat on him, making a point to grind against his crotch. „Should I tie you up or are you gonna be good for me?”

„No promises, but I’ll try.”

„I’ll find a way to punish you if you don’t.” She smirked at him in the most deliciously evil manner possible and Jordan became acutely aware of just how hard he was.

„Oh, what’s that there?” She ever so innocently brushed herself over his crotch. „I ever tell you how easy it is to get you hard?”

Jordan didn’t miss a beat. „I ever tell you that you seem to get wet at my slightest touch? Hell, I could whisper operation intel your ear and you’d be begging for it.”

Eliza bit her lip and lightly smacked him across the face. „Aren't we arrogant? I’d gag you, if I didn’t have a better use for your mouth.”

„Consider it at your service.” The man was still as cocky as ever.

„Good. You don’t come until I say you do.”

Jordan only groaned in response.

She suddenly drew his underwear down and gripped his cock tightly enough for him to feel uncomfortable. „Answer me.”

„Yes ma’am.”

Eliza registered that she still had his shirt on and threw it off her shoulders, made sure his underwear followed, exposing that delicious hard-on, and climbed all the way up to where his head was rested. Jordan’s eyes were fixated between her legs. He licked his lips, wanting to be closer, to taste her again, but in a different way, by her rules. His eyes darted from her wetness up to her eyes, as if waiting for an order. She considered making him ask for it, but the intense desire in his eyes was enough.

Eliza spread her legs and lowered herself closer to his face, shivering slightly as she felt his breath over her glistening pussy. Jordan leaned towards to taste her, but she gripped his hair and drew his head back. Not so fast.

The man’s lips formed a smirk, eyes locked with hers and he mouthed something, either „come on” or „let me”. Whatever it was, it made her cease the teasing and press her cunt against his eager mouth. The sensation was so intense that she had to grip his hair even harder, but she still couldn’t hold back the gasp that broke through her lips.

She felt him drag his tongue over her entrance and started to move across his face in slow but hard, grinding motions. His tongue, relentless and oh so deliciously talented, worked at her very core. But this time she was setting the pace. She grabbed Jordan’s greying hair that she had grown fond of and pulled his head as close between her legs as possible. Eliza picked up the pace, holding to the bed’s headboard with one hand. Riding his face even harder, she put one hell of a strain on his neck, but judging by his murmurs of approval, he was in heaven right now.

„You like that, Jordan? Bet you’d spent the entire night there, would you?” She could manage out between gasps.

He didn’t need to answer, the intensity of his tongue movements and the deep groan he made was perfectly sufficient. A mix of his saliva and her own arousal dripped down her thighs and she was lost in the sensations of his flexible tongue working wonders inside her and the way his bearded cheeks rubbed against her soft skin. The fire that started between her legs delightfully spread all across her body, every muscle coiled with pleasure, her entire being focused on wave after wave of physical bliss.

She rode him almost violently now, literally using his face for pleasure. Being thrown off of his rhythm, Jordan could do nothing more than push his face hard between her legs, tongue running over her, eager to taste and please her even more, as if he could get even closer.

„Don’t move, yes, yes, fuck, I’m-„ With a cry, a barrage of swear words and encouragements, Eliza reached her climax, riding it out on the man’s face. Borderline delirious, she grabbed onto the headboard hard, managing not to fall back. Only after a while, as her body recovered from her peak, she noticed that Jordan had generously grabbed onto her ass and was pressing her soaked heat to his face, still licking at her like a man possessed. She knew he was good enough to bring her to a second orgasm quick, but for the time being, things weren’t happening on his terms.

With great effort she managed to climb off his face and lay next to him. Jordan’s handsome features were covered in proof of her arousal, eyes gleaming with self-satisfaction. He licked his lips, wanting to maintain the remnants of her taste. Not only was his beard completely damp, rivulets of her wetness were running down his neck and mixing in his chest hair. It was hell of an image, one that was winding her up again.

Jordan regained the ability to talk first, though with a gravelly voice. „Couldn’t help it with the hands. Ain’t got that much strength of spirit. Hopefully you won’t punish me too harshly.” He wore a wolfish grin. „Not after how hard I just made you come.”

Eliza tiredly patted his chest. „We’ll see. I’ll take this into account.”

„You do know how to ride a man’s face, I’ll give you that. Fucking turns me on so much.”

She leaned down and planted a hard kiss on his lips, tasting herself on his tongue. He let off an abrupt moan, evidently getting off on sharing the remnants of her arousal with her. The woman pressed her body against his, reveling in the contrast between her soft sweaty skin and his hard, tightly coiled body. Unlike his usual dominant nature, he was pliant in the kiss, letting her freely explore his mouth.

His cock was hot and throbbing, hint of precum leaking down the base. Eliza wanted nothing more than to wrap her lips around it, maybe other than hearing him beg to be touched.

„You know, you have such a perfect cock, I’ve ever told you that? I admit, I have to make an effort to handle it.” The redhead cooed, lightly running her fingers over his shaft, torturing the poor man in front of her. „It’s just a shame it’s attached to such an smartass.”

„I promise I won’t get in the way if you want to do something with it,” Jordan breathed out, eyes darting down for a moment to observe the way her fingers worked his erection. „I can see you want it badly. Ride it the way you rode my face.”

The way his body was responding to her light touch, she thought that he wouldn’t last long if she did that, but Jordan was full of surprises. „Remember what I said about you not coming before I tell you to?”

„I won’t. Promise. Please, I want to see your face when you come again.”

He rarely used the word „please” on any other occasions, so something about hearing him say it now aroused her to no end. Eliza was slick inside so that made mounting him easier. With still shaky legs, she moved down his body and spread herself over his rock hard cock, making a point of teasing him a bit and rubbing it against her core, eliciting desperate grunts and filthy murmurs out of the Texan. She finally sank down and bit her lip at the deliciously torturous way his size stretched her out, inch by inch, until he was finally buried completely inside her. She arched her back with a loud moan as he regarded her with wide, dazed eyes. At that moment, Jordan seriously doubted if he could deny himself long enough to make her come again. Lost in the delightful image in front of him, he wanted to touch her so badly.

Feeling his scarred hand on her stomach, Eliza forced herself to focus her gaze and slap him hard enough to make him remember the rules. „Hey, remember, keep your hands to yourself. You took the challenge, big guy.” She was really going to try to take him over the edge.

„Do it again.” Jordan’s voice was all gravelly desire.

„What? This?” She gasped out, licked her lips and smacked him across his jaw again. The rumble coming from him stirred up the fire inside her.

Still unsteady from the feeling of fullness, she slowly began to ride him. One hand braced on the headboard, the other against his chest, after getting accustomed to the sensation of his honestly intimidating size inside her, she shifted to stronger, surer motions. Jordan meanwhile was transfixed by the woman on top of him and the way she moved, eyes glued to the breasts in front of him that he oh so badly wanted to touch, but couldn’t.

With no small amount of pride, Eliza noticed the effect she had on him. „Holding on there, Jordan?” she asked, pulling slightly on his chest hair to get his attention.

„You-you have no idea…” the Texan groaned out with great effort, brow already covered in sweat.

„Careful, if you end up leaving me hanging here, you’ll regret it later.” Eliza enjoyed every bit of his desperation.

„I can think of worse things than getting punished by you.” His eyes drifted up to her face at the exact moment she bit her lip when his cock brushed exactly the right spot. „Jesus, ‘Liza, let me fucking touch you.”

Instead of answering, she slapped him, harder this time. Jordan’s head shot to the right side and he squeezed his eyes shut, muttering a plethora of curse words, some of them directed straight at her. She would almost feel bad for him if she didn’t know just how much he enjoyed this.

Eliza grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head back towards her. „Hey there, tough guy. I want you to look at me. You won’t get off that easily.”

Jordan’s pleading expression shifted into a determined one. „You are fucking evil, you know that?”

„Tell me you don’t love it.”

The look on his face was all the answer she needed.

She started to move faster and grind down on him harder, his groans and silent curses mixing with her gasps, growing in intensity. She possessively ran her hand down his face and as she reached his scruff-covered jaw, she felt his tongue run over her palm, and then his lips smirk as she moaned out loud. The redhead slapped him again with the same hand and he let out a throaty, delicious laugh. She hated just how much he could take her off guard, draw out reactions from her even when she was the one in charge.

Eliza straightened out, throwing her red hair back, a move that made him positively crazy, and looked down upon the man as she ran her hand down his chest, raking her nails across his skin. His fists were dug into the mattress, muscles tightened as he held back just for her, making his torso an absolutely gorgeous sight. Jordan’s teeth was clenched, eyes clouded with lust, yet maintaining a determination to please her.

His cock was stretching her out and driving her more and more crazy by the second. Eliza rode him without mercy, now forgotten all about her power play and desperately striving to reach her peak. She leaned down and gripped his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin deep enough to leave marks, and started to move like a woman possessed, reveling in the incredible sensation of him inside her. The knowledge that he was holding back just for her, waiting for her to let him come on her command, was almost enough to set her over the edge.

„I want to see you come so fucking bad,” Jordan breathed out in a raspy voice.

„Keep talking” was the last coherent sentence she managed out.

„You feel so good, goddamn. I swear, I’d let you handcuff me here and use me over and over again just to watch you do it.” His hips were moving with precise intent now, driving into her and bringing her closer and closer to the brink. „Come for me. I want to you come like this, right on my cock.”

„Oh god, I’m- _fuck_ ”

Eliza dug her fingers into his flesh and came hard, gasping and crying out obscenities, eyes closed shut and grinding down on his cock for dear life. Perspective of time was lost completely as she rode it out as much as she could, gripping onto his strong shoulders. As her orgasm weakened, she realized that her muscles had lost the ability to keep herself up and she collapsed on the man beneath her.

When her senses returned to her, Eliza could feel his rapid heartbeat and hard breathing as she recalled that he still had some pressing business to attend to. Even then, she could feel his hand brush softly over her back, right along the line of an old scar. For a second, she was surprised that he already knew her body so well.

„I assume you are satisfied,” Jordan growled, lips pressed right next to her ear.

„For now,” she smiled against the skin of his chest. „What, you’re in a hurry somewhere?”

„Funny.”

Eliza immensely enjoyed lying on top of him, but a deal was a deal. She took a little while and then gathered herself enough to lift her body off of his, shivering at the sudden emptiness. Looking him over, he was almost out of it. But, true to his words, the persistent bastard maintained control and still was hard as a rock.

„I have to say, I’m impressed, Jordan.” Still breathing heavily from her own climax, she drew a single finger agonizingly slow over the length of his leaking cock, enjoying his frustrated groan.

„Fuck, ‘Liza, I’m done. Please. Let me.”

Jordan was so close that she barely had to touch him. She wrapped her fingers around his big throbbing cock and stroked him a few times before he released a deep, throaty moan and came hard all over her hand, torso and his well sculpted abs. Eliza couldn’t resist leaning down and running her tongue all over his stomach muscles, licking up the mess he made as she listened to his filthy whispers of encouragement. She got into it, the taste of sweat and his essence driving her crazy, not stopping even after he was cleaned up. By the time she was finished, his cock was still twitching.

Eliza, exhausted herself, rested her head on his chest and listened to his breathing after what was evidently a longed-for release. Jordan’s limbs stretched out in pleasure and his previously intense face expression had grown into relaxed bliss.

„Can I move my arms now?” His Texan accent was wonderfully raspy, a thoroughly enjoyable sound.

„Let’s assume that you’ve earned it,” she answered, face still pressed against his chest with no intention to move.

His right hand ended up on her back again, fingers running over that same scar.

„You’re a demanding woman,” Jordan chuckled.

„Trust me, you’re keeping up so far. There’s a reason I stomach your idiotic comments.”

„Bold words for someone who’s still shivering.”

Eliza would slap him if she wasn’t both so tired and so comfortable laying on his chest right now. „You shouldn’t talk trash for someone who’s so quick to beg.”

His chest rumbled with silent laughter again, a sound that she wanted to hear again and again. They laid like that for a while, even when their bodies had recovered, the scent of each other’s skin and the soft sound of the street below them enveloping the two operators. Eliza had almost fallen asleep, using his fuzzy chest as a pillow, until his voice brought her back.  

„I like this one.” His rough fingers were still tracing the outline of the scar on her lower back.

She couldn’t help but smile at the unorthodox compliment. „You like one of my scars? That’s the first time I’ve heard that.”

„You…wear them well. They just fit you. It means you have stories to tell.” Jordan’s hand was still pleasantly warm on her lower back. „I don’t know, it’s just fascinating to me. There’s another one I like, on your stomach.”

She lifted her eyebrows, knowing exactly the one he was talking about, a former wound not far below her right breast. „I do feel like that has something to do with the location, not any meaning behind it,” she mused.

„Might be right on that one,” Jordan chuckled. „So, tell me about one of them.”

Eliza sighed, already preparing a sarcastic remark to shoot down his inquiry, but surprisingly found herself willing to share, at least this one thing.

„Well, the one you like so much, on my back – it’s not that old. From the FBI days. I didn’t put plates in the back of my armor carrier, felt like they restricted my mobility too much. There was a hostage situation and I rushed in, confident that any threats would be in front of me where I could handle them. Turns out, there was an improvised device in my blind spot. And suddenly, I was knocked down from the shock wave, with something sharp lodged into my back.” She could swear she felt his heartbeat quicken. „Thankfully, the device apparently didn’t go off properly. Otherwise, well, I’d probably be buried or worse, in a wheelchair.”

Jordan was silent for a while, until a resigned sigh. „Shit, ‘Liza, I don’t really like that one anymore.”

She dismissed it with a snicker and kept running her fingers in circles across his chest. „Oh please, this is one of the more pleasant stories. Besides, I made it in time to secure the hostage before the bastards blew his brains out. And it actually taught me some things. Like, not being stupid and making sure you have the rear plates on.”

„Didn’t turn you off from always rushing ahead though.”

„Oh, now I have you guys to watch my back for me.” Eliza smirked and lifted her head from his sweaty skin to look at his face. „Now your turn. And if you can, make it a fun one.”

„Let’s see.” His handsome features extended in a smile and he lifted up his left elbow to her. „Notice that?” he pointed to a weirdly shaped round scar right on the bone. „About 10 years ago, a cheap dive bar back in Texas.”

She rested her chin against his chest and met his gaze with interest. „Do tell.”

„I was out with my college buddy, celebrating him finally graduating.” Eliza could swear he played up his Texan accent for this, but certainly had no objections as she continued listening. „One hell of a lot of drinks in, we went out to have a smoke and came back to our barrage of shots magically gone. Turns out, they were relinquished by a bunch of low-lives in a booth next to us. So, after we noticed the shots that appeared on their table looked exactly like our missing ones, we politely – and I do mean politely, I only swore like three or four times – asked them to give them back.”

„And I assume they did and you parted ways amicably?”

„Yeah, and then goddamn Elvis rose from the dead and gave us all a performance. Long story short, one impolite remark about my mother later, my knuckles ended up readjusting someone’s cheekbone. Then I turn around and my buddy – a scholar not a fighter, though he didn’t think that way – was flat on the ground. Turns out, that bar wasn’t exactly friendly territory and I ended up in a fight with six of those rednecks.”

„Six, you say? Are you sure they weren’t twelve?”

„Nah, see, then it would be an even fight,” Jordan smirked. „I had to work for it, but they ended up either down and out or backing off. Those fuckers did get a few good licks in though. Hence this puppy on my elbow. Glass lodged in my bone. Could never go back to that bar, but hell, it was worth it.”

Eliza gave him a smile. Something about the way his voice flew when telling the story was enrapturing, as if they were sharing battle tales next to a campfire. „So, what happened to your buddy?”

„Oh, Josh? He didn’t remember a thing after getting knocked out. So I reassured him he stood back up and beat the shit out of that guy. Hell, he told the same thing to some college girl later that night and got laid. So he still owes me a favor for that.”

„Huh. Do you guys still keep in contact?”

Jordan’s face slightly lost the delight he had when telling the tale. „Not really, not since I joined the FBI. I think he works for a good engineering company now. This job of ours isn’t exactly the best thing for keeping up old friendships.”

Eliza knew exactly how he felt, absentmindedly running her fingers across his skin.

„Anyway,” Jordan continued, „you should come to my city sometimes. Any bar you visit, there’s a chance I punched someone who’s there.”

She met his gaze again. „That’s an invitation?”

He tried to brush it off. „Uhh, I can throw a big get-together for the team. I mean, we’ve damn well earned it. Or, well, you can just come by yourself. If you want to, that is.”

„Okay. Tempt me then.”

„Ever been to a football game? A proper one.”

„Not really.”

Jordan’s eyes lit up. „What? You’ve been living here for what, a decade now, and you haven’t been to a football game? So that’s one thing, not to mention I’m one hell of a cook, so-„

Eliza couldn’t suppress the look of surprise on her face. „Hold up. You? A cook? Don’t you just burn everything?”

„No, that’s just with explosives. I’m way more careful with food.” His expression was so comically serious that she had to press her face against his chest to stifle a burst of laughter.

„Alright, I’m considering it. Unless I have to ride a horse.”

„Hell no. They don’t agree with me. One dropped me when I was a kid.”

„That explains things.”

Jordan’s laugh echoed across the room. „Oh, fuck you.”

„Fix a girl a drink first.”

„Then you’ll have to move, unless you want me to carry you around as well.”

„Another time.” She pressed a kiss to his chest, wanting to have the taste of his skin on her lips, and rolled off of him with a sigh, already missing the body heat. Jordan slowly sat up and after ever so slightly running his hand over her leg, with heavy steps walked towards the minibar.

Eliza brushed her tousled hair back from her still glowing face, her eyes glued to his naked body as he poured in two drinks. „So, how long are we staying here?”

„I told the receptionist it’s for the weekend.” He chuckled for a moment. „You should’ve seen her face. Jealous of you, understandably.”

Eliza scoffed in amusement, though she believed it. Especially now when admiring the way his muscles shifted with his every action. Jordan fixed the drinks with a practiced ease and she studied his movements, as if they were the only thing demanding her attention at this moment. And truly, they were, as she lay there as satisfied with life as she’s ever been, already wondering what to do to him after they’ll finish their drinks.

Until their phones rang at the same time. _Goddamnit._

Jordan set their glasses down simultaneously with a loud clink. He turned around, face expression set in stone, looking exactly how she felt. Without a word, he crossed the room with quick strides to gather both of their phones and tossed hers for her to catch. They both opened the call at the same time.

It was a signal both operators had received over a dozen times before. It wasn’t even a call, more of an automated message that went out to every Team Rainbow operator on certain occasions. It was semi-encrypted with codewords, but the message was clear. Emergency situation. If able, regroup back at base ASAP. Volunteers only.

Eliza set her phone down on the bedside table with an audible thud and Jordan, visibly frustrated, tossed his on the bed. The previous levity of the atmosphere was gone with a snap. The team asked for volunteers, which meant the task, whatever it was, carried a particular risk. They could just sit this one out – but what then? Get Zofia and Hibana to replace them? And what if they get hurt or make a fatal mistake?

Jordan and Eliza looked at each other for what seemed to be an eternity. And right there, all was understood, without a need for words. The recognition of the danger that will always be there if they won’t answer it. A helicopter full of teammates that would get ripped to shreds if they hadn’t been there. This is how it was supposed to be. Always between this world and the other one. And that was fine with them.

Eliza finally broke the silence. „I’m going.”

Jordan’s smile felt bittersweet. „I know. Me too.”

They had quick showers, separately, and dressed mostly in silence, just quiet acknowledgments when one handed the other a piece of clothing.  She was securing her pistol in the holster when Jordan cleared his throat.

„Eliza, I’m sorry. You deserved a break.”

„We both did. And you have nothing to be sorry about. It’s out of our reach. Here, don’t forget your lighter.”

He caught it and thoughtfully clicked it open and closed a few times. „Right. We should go check out.”

„Hey, if nothing else, at least that girl downstairs will have something to gloat about, since our weekend got abruptly cancelled.”

Jordan let out one of his bitter laughs and scanned the room for any forgotten objects before heading for the door. Until she grabbed his arm.

„Wait. Just one more thing.”

Eliza found him looking down on her with the same unwavering desire that seemed to always burn in his eyes whenever she got close to him. She captured his mouth with hers, tasting that damn whiskey they never finished. A feeling of selfishness coursed through them, a wish to take and not let go, to leave the world to work itself out, just for once. This was different from the previous times, as if the kiss was enveloped by a feeling of solemnness, the air thick with the danger that awaited them. Eliza felt his arms wrap around her tightly and deepened the kiss with a silent moan, pressing their bodies together, all the while knowing they can stay here only for a few moments. But right then, it was enough.

The ride back to the base was silent apart from the sound of the motor and the chattering of the nightly radio. Even the driver felt like something was up and didn’t chime in. Neither Jordan nor Eliza said a word to one another, both imagining potential scenarios of what was awaiting them. A missing WMD? An inbound attack on a civilian target? Not like that mattered, they were in either way.

The car passed a group of careless thirty-somethings, probably heading towards the bar. Eliza rubbed her eyes, realizing just how tired she were. She looked at the man beside him. Deep in thought, Jordan was still playing with his lighter, the barely audible clicks adding to the already gloomy atmosphere.

It was her turn to break the silence. „I wish I was at your stupid football game.”

Despite it all, he still managed to flash a winning grin at her. „So it’s set then. I’ll book plane tickets so quickly that Six will have to stop the damn thing from taking off. Wait, nevermind. I think she can actually do that.”

At her own surprise, she managed to crack a smile.

„Hey, ‘Liza. Look at me.”

She met his eyes, seemingly bright blue even in the darkness of the car, and was so fucking thankful to him for being the one person who _understands_.

„They need us.”

Eliza drew a deep breath, calming her heart rate and nodded. „They do.”

As they approached the starting point of the base territory, Jordan sparked his lighter once, illuminating the car. And then clicked it shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you might tell, the further chapters will move into somewhat of an angst territory. There will still be smut, absolutely, but with a liiitle bit more substance. Feels? In my dirty fanfiction? It's more likely than you think.
> 
> As always, I can't fucking thank you enough for the comments, kudos and even simply clicking on my fic. Every bit of feedback just makes me want to never stop writing this.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions flare after an unsuccessful operation, Ash and Thermite get personal in very unpleasant ways.

The smoldering heat of a Florida night was contrasted with the pouring rain that soaked any unfortunate soul that happened to wander outside at this hour. Four bodies, dressed in black, their sweat mixing with the water droplets, proceeded inside a sizeable mansion, in a very out of place compound in this middle of nowhere that screamed shady business.

"Team Alpha is in, how copy?" an unmistakably Southern voice asked.

"Team Beta proceeding in, good copy, over," a gruff English voice answered.

Thermite let go of his ear and motioned a hulking Frenchman to proceed further. The individual known both to his friends and enemies as Montagne nodded and moved down the hallway, step by step, followed by the three individuals behind him: the Texan, Ash and Jackal.

"Scanning for footprints. Lots of targets up ahead," both caution and determination rang out in Jackal’s quiet accented voice.

The four individuals positioned themselves closer to one another, so close they could feel each other breathing, and silently, step by step, moved along the direction of the footprints.

"Entry point up ahead," Montagne whispered, as calm as ever.

"Roger. Doing my thing." Thermite uncharacteristically silently set up his Brimstone on the wall next to the door. No need to be predictable.

After a brief silent countdown, the familiar buzz of the fire and fury, all gathered in a small charge, went off. Following a deafening explosion and a hail of desperate screams behind the now obliterated wall, Montagne charged in, bullets ricocheting off his seemingly indestructible shield. Before the targets had the chance to change their gameplan, the three operators behind the thickly armored shield carrier suddenly popped out and took about 10 shots each, enough to kill anything moving in the room, and then some.

"Clear," Thermite curtly remarked and reloaded his Sig Sauer rifle.

"Clear on my end. Jackal?" Ash responded and followed suit.

"Easy work. We need to move, he definitely knows we’re here."

The "he" in question, or "bastard", "fucker", "cocksucker" and a person who earned many euphemisms from Team Rainbow, was Joseph Priestly, a former disgraced Navy SEAL and a leader of a private military company whose services and arsenal were offered to any terrorist group, dictator or a cartel who had the ability to pay. After an incident where his mercenaries had killed US personnel in Syria, the POTUS had authorized a sudden kill or capture mission. Problem was, he was really hard to track, not a person who stays in one place too long, usually alternating between his numerous mansions and other hideouts. Thatcher had described him as "Pablo Escobar, only with more guns". The window for success was short, the opposition numerous and the chances of everything ending well – lower than usual.

The team picked up the pace, boots squeaking against the blood-covered floor. For the next few minutes, everything was going relatively by the book. Jackal’s gadget was useful with spotting targets, especially when drones were too much of a hassle. Montagne took most of the heat and both FBI agents were as precise and lethal as ever. As they passed a staircase, the radio came alive again, this time, punctuated by gunshots on the other end.

"Bloody…SHIT, MAESTRO, WILL YOU GET YOUR ASS OVER AND COVER ME? Alpha, do you copy? We’re in a big fucking pickle over here."

"Thatch? What’s happening?" The sound coming from the radio was bad enough to concern the ever confident Ash. Team Alpha now realized the severity of the gunfire from what was now coming from the other end of the rather excessively decorated mansion.

"We’re pinned down by…fuck, Lion’s drone showed that there are at least two dozens of ‘em…shit, they’re proceeding towards us. We need to fall back if you don’t want to bring back our corpses. Would DEARLY appreciate some backup." The cursing was a given when dealing with Thatcher. The worrying tone in his voice wasn't.

Eliza reacted quickly. "Hold on tight. Monty, Jackal – go help them. Take the second floor, pressure the tangos from behind. We’ll go on with the search."

The two men nodded and ran back to the staircase to help their comrades. Ash could've sworn she had never seen someone move so quickly with a shield the size of an adult male.

Now if was just the two FBI operators left. Eliza took a deep breath and shook her head. "Sounded bad."

Jordan tapped her shoulder and checked his ammo count. "Focus on the objective. Thatcher knows when to fold. He won’t let any of them get hurt."

"This fucker Priestly has a chopper, right? How much time left until they fly him the hell out of there and we never get the next shot at him?" Clear anger tainted her voice.

"Not nearly enough. Let’s move, double time."

"Roger th-TARGET, LEFT!"

The sound of gunfire echoed through the hall, followed by two lifeless bodies hitting the floor. The element of surprise or not, two dishonorably discharged Army brats had nothing on the reflexes of the top Rainbow operatives.

"Fuck! Good call, ‘Liza." Thermite double checked the dead bodies in front of him, putting another round in each of them. "You wouldn’t want to carry my heavy ass back to the extraction. I owe you a drink."

Ash slowly exhaled and tried to calm down her accelerated heart rate. Jordan may joke, but a second later and – she didn’t want to entertain the thought. "I don’t think just a drink will suffice."

She could catch a smirk on his face.

"Other things on your mind? How about we handle that after we bag this shitheel?"

"With pleasure."

Both operators moved to cover the ground in front of them. The long hallways made them nervous, ample for an ambush and this time without a shield to cover them. But their true concern was about their comrades on the other side, the restless gunfire scratching at their nerves.

Jordan, ever so carefully, pushed at the handle of yet another door. It was either locked or barred from the inside. He almost comically gestured to Eliza. "Ladies first."

Despite the severity of the situation, that coaxed a smile out of Ash. "Lady? Have we met? Stand aside."

A few seconds later, the force of a propelled grenade blew the door open, sending shrapnel in every direction. This time, the mercs on the other side were ready for the breaching  - but not for the two flash grenades going off momentarily. Two of them fell to the floor, clutching their faces, the few others started to blindly fire at every direction available, even putting some rounds in their own colleagues. Controlled chaos was the speciality of both Ash and Thermite, and seconds later, the mercs were put out of their misery.

The seeming ease of eliminating the opposition brought back some hope to both operators. Maybe the objective wasn't lost yet. But as they were about to turn another corner, suddenly the buzz in the comms diverted their attention. It was Thatcher's voice, calmer than before, but without any good news. "You two, we’ve all fallen back, alongside Montagne and Jackal. It’s a lost fucking cause if we don’t want to throw our lives away. It's unlikely we can bag the bastard anymore, so I _heavily_ advise you to do the same. Meet you back at extraction point, over."

Jordan and Eliza glanced at each other, then towards the direction where the previous gunfire had abruptly ceased. The silence only meant one thing: if mercs weren't engaging their teammates, they surely were scouting for people still left in the mansion. Both were making the same calculations in their minds. How many people actually were coming towards their direction right this second? Fifteen? Twenty? What if they come all at once? Thatcher would only fall back if he knew they had no chance whatsoever. Would they even have the ammo to engage them? And what if the target only used his lackeys to gain the time to get away?

Ash broke the silence. "We can still get him."

Thermite's expression was hidden by his headgear, but seemingly evident despite it. "What? Okay, so we take down the fuckers near us, what happens when the entire platoon of their friends shows up?"

Ash couldn't help but be disappointed at his lack of faith. "You know they’re a bunch of thugs!  They’re barely fucking soldiers. The President himself signed off on this, specifically because WE would be the ones in this mission. Our names were singled out! What do you want Six to say to him? Sorry, the best operatives got too much to handle?"

"For fuck’s sake Eliza, we don’t even know he’s here! This could be a fucking ambush!"

"This asshole had his goons kill American soldiers! Barely 25 years old, most of them! And he laughed all the way to the goddamn bank! Doesn’t that boil your blood? As a United States Marine?"

Some faint sound was coming from deeper inside the mansion but it was ignored. Instead, Thermite's uneasy temper was directed towards the headstrong woman in front of him. "I know. It fucking does. But you're not gonna manipulate me, not now. Do you want to be on that list as well?"

"Fine, you can stay here and cover my exit. I’m executing the objective."

Ash leaned from the corner to observe and calculate the possible scenarios of further action, but was suddenly dragged back with force that took her breath out of her lungs.

"What the fuck? Get your hands off me." She struggled, but he pressed her against the wall, absolutely immobilizing her. As good as she was at close quarters fighting, trying to get away from his grip in this position was like trying to move a mountain.

"No." The deep, resounding, scary kind of "no".

Still struggling, Ash tried to find his eyes, covered by dark glass, betraying nothing. "Jordan. We can do this."

He lifted his googles up, exposing his focused blue-grey eyes that simmered with anger. "Do you want to die here?"

"Whatever I want, that’s not your choice to make. We’re soldiers." She tried to move, but his iron grip was unwavering.

"We’re not fucking canon fodder. We make decisions. Everyone has already fallen back. Why are you so FUCKING STUBBORN?"

Eliza didn’t have an answer to that. She knew he was absolutely right. But she also knew she had to execute the task. Backing down was an alien concept to her. "What, you’re going to knock me out and drag me to the evac?"

The steps on the other side of the nearby hallway became audible and were evidently getting closer, most definitely lured here by Jordan's yelling. Thatcher's voice was barking out questions over the comms, but none of them cared to answer. Almost like this wasn't his business.

Jordan angrily let her go. "Make your decision. You want to go further? Custer’s last stand and all that? I’ll go with you. They’ll find both of our decomposing bodies in this stupid fucking house. And that bastard cocksucker will laugh and do his bidding until our team takes him out. But we won’t be there to see it."

Eliza was boiling inside, but the reality gradually set in. They were outnumbered and would likely die there, gaining nothing but pride. And he'd die because of her stubbornness. She was flooding with fury at his ability to guilt trip her, but deep down she realized that Jordan was right. His heavy, insistent gaze won over her itching trigger finger and the white-knuckled grip of her rifle.

"Fine. Let's go." Her voice was barely audible, but sure.

Almost in sync, they stormed away from the incoming death squad through the path they had taken when going in. Just in twenty or so seconds they had covered half of the ground they needed, rifles still at the ready in case any tango popped out as a bad surprise. Thermite, rarely able to keep up with her running speed in training, this time never fell back as much as an inch. They ran, jumping over bodies, each foot they put between them and the search party behind, a step closer to safety.

The operators only slowed down when hitting the fresh air outside the building. Jordan took a big gulp of oxygen and barked into the comms with a raspy voice: "Sorry, gonna be late to the party. Need anything picked up?"

Thatcher, however, was in no mood for small talk. "You two on a date or something? MOVE YOUR FUCKING ASSES!"

In that tone, they didn't need to be asked twice. With pure adrenaline, the two teammates sprinted in the direction of the extraction zone. Suddenly, a few parting shots landed not that many feet away from them, encouraging the operators to pick up the pace or die to a lucky headshot. The treeline they disappeared into gave them a bit of a sense of security, but Ash and Thermite knew that they weren't safe until that chopper was far away from here with them on board. So, a surge of relief washed over both of them when yellow smoke became visible in their vicinity, a mark of the extraction zone. The first man they saw was Lion, observing the treeline they sprinted out from and welcoming them with a curt nod. The chopper rotors were slicing the air above them, eager to lift off. Fighting the strong breeze, they hopped on the helicopter, ignoring Thatcher's still audible yelling. Lion followed on their heels and in a minute, they were up in the air.

When they had reached safe distance, Thatcher angrily motioned towards the headsets, a sign for both Ash and Thermite that they're about to receive a verbal ass whooping. Jordan glanced at Eliza and found her gaze solemnly focused on one point of the helicopter floor. He put on the headset; as frustrated as he was towards his partner right now, he still had to cover for her.

"Explain," Thatcher's voice was a stern as ever.

Jordan wasn't gonna let him pull his seniority card. "Explain what? That we were outnumbered and let a target go? Six will tear into us for this anyway, we don't need this shit right now."

"Not that. Missions get buggered sometimes. I'm talking about you two doing god knows what in there for an eternity while were were almost debating who's gonna carry out your dead bodies from there."

Jordan gave Eliza a subtle look, though she still didn't care about the conversation in the slightest.  "Relax, old man. The comms got fucked for a bit. We're all in one piece. Let us clear our heads for a while, huh?"

Thatcher still wanted to make a point, but recognized that Jordan really didn't want to press further. Scratching at his mustache, the SAS veteran sighed, put away the headset and closed his eyes, hoping to get a bit of sleep. Almost everyone on the chopper followed suit, except Ash and Thermite, the tension between them almost visible in the cramped helicopter.

The team landed at a forward operating base near the outskirts of Florida. It wasn't as big or fancy as their home base, but it was certainly good enough to patch up, get some grub or drinks in, clean their gear and catch up on sleep. Six's willingness to spend resources on these bases made their work a lot easier, as they didn't necessarily have to spend as much time flying back from the mission. They made contact with home base, thankfully, a task that Thatcher took over, saving both Eliza and Jordan the trouble of admitting the failed op to Six. While Thermite quickly went over the operation with Montagne, avoiding to mention anything concerning him and Ash, Eliza took the liberty of occupying a recreational room at the far corner of the base to clear her head.

Eliza could never stand to fail at anything, even as a little girl. That didn't get her many friends, but it did get her accomplishments both at school and in her career. You didn't become the right hand woman of one of the most influential people in counter terrorism by not being ambitious. But this was absolutely different. She knew that the op was a lost cause. No matter how tough you are, you're always taught to weigh the consequences in your head and fall back. One thing was being a hero, another was pointlessly wasting the resources put in your training. It was her anger and stubbornness, sure. But Thermite's presence ultimately had the most to do with her behavior. She sometimes caught herself thinking that they're both invincible together, sure. But she had to admit that a big part of it was possibly seeking for his reaction. Clear her doubts whether he actually gives a shit about her. Prod his seemingly unbreakable exterior. And what this all meant was that she did what she was afraid of at the very beginning: let an inherently personal aspect of her life interfere in her job, even worse, alter her actions on the field.

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by heavy steps and a grunt of acknowledgement at the entrance of the rather small room. He always had the knack for finding her. One way or another. She stubbed out her ninth cigarette in her cup of coffee.

"Hiding from something?" Jordan's words echoed across the empty room. The tone indicated exactly what kind of a conversation was this going to be.

"It might come as a shock to you, but not everyone wants to listen to you banter about bullshit after that major fuck up of an op. Let me be."

Jordan ignored Eliza's plea, though it wasn't dismay that washed over her. She wasn't sure of her statement about wanting to be alone. He continued, adopting the same no-nonsense tone he had when briefing someone. "We've had unsuccessful missions before. Things go wrong when stakes as high as this are involved. Faulty intel, someone getting wounded, you get the fuck over it, shake off the dust, wash the blood off. But sheer stupidity born out of some personal conviction or refusal to accept the reality is something I'm not gonna let go."

Now, you could call Eliza reckless, arrogant, even bitchy, but being called stupid is something she's not gonna let pass. She squashed the already crumpled pack of cigarettes in her hand. "Care to elaborate? Or are you just here to insult me?"

"’Liza, I’m gonna be frank here. You are one of the best people I’ve ever worked with. There is nobody I would rather deploy with than you. But you ever pull shit like that on me again, I’m gonna ask Six to never be on the same squad as you."

The words stung, but her stubbornness took over. She refused to look at him and waived his words dismissively aside. "Relax. Tomorrow you will only remember the fact that we fucked it up, not how we fucked it up."

Jordan was relentless, stepping into her field of vision, arms on his hips, as if cornering her. "No. I'm not gonna tell Six about her protege having a fucking death wish, for your own sake. But something took over you right there and it better never happen again."

Eliza knew he was right. Deep down. Didn't she? But something pushed her to argue. "Since when are you in charge of making my decisions for me?"

"All due respect. But you haven’t been to war the same way as I have. Nor as long as I have."

Another shot against her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

His stern features shifted into softer ones. Jordan averted his gaze from hers and quickly lit a cigarette of his own. He let silence wash over them for a while, scratched the back of his head and proceeded, still deep in thought. "My first tour in Iraq. We were ordered to observe the village, held by insurgents. About a dozen Marines, three Humvees. There was a big shot, a local warlord there. The week before, he had beheaded a captured Marine, a guy we knew well. Strung up his body and left it to rot."

The Texan paused and took a deep drag from the cigarette. "So, of course, we decided to engage. We had to. Avenge a fallen brother, and all that. We didn’t tell the truth about their numbers so that command would approve. Almost all of us were fresh out of boot camp, cocky as fuck. The force we met was…overwhelming, to say the least. Dozen of us went in, 4 guys came back, me included."

The silence was now oppressive. She listened to the rather calming sound of him inhaling and exhaling the smoke. "Shit. I’m sorry, Jordan."

"Yeah. Had to carry one of my friends on my back to the Humvee. I practically felt his last breath go out of his lungs. But the next day, we went out there again. Called in an airstrike and decimated the whole thing. The op was deemed a success." He let out a bitter laugh, engulfed by smoke. "Success. I felt like I had aged by 10 years."

Eliza looked down at the wooden floor, finding nothing to say.

He, however, had a point to make. "So excuse me if I overreact when my teammate wants to sprint towards almost certain death."

She could feel his sharp gaze burning through her, but found the nerve to press on. "Jordan, I get that you’ve gone through some devastating things, and I’m sorry. I truly am. But here, my decisions are not yours. The stakes are too high. We let a guy like Priestly go? He disappears somewhere in the Middle East, sells arsenal to insurgents, to Donetsk, whatever. A civilian airplane goes down. That’s how things happen. We get one shot to avert a catastrophe. I’ve seen this too many times."

"I know how this goes as well, thank you very much. You think Six would be less angry with one of her best people dead because you wanted to _try_? This ain't preschool, 'Liza, you either do it or you don't, but the only thing you get for trying is a body bag."

The redhead squared up to him, unwilling to back off. "So you assume we, or I, would’ve failed?"

Jordan had forgotten about his cigarette, burning near the tip of his fingers. "The mission was hastily thrown together. We barely had an intel on the security in the compound. I’m all for bagging the bad guys, but goddamnit, sometimes you need to stop being stupid and know when to take the fight to them another day."

His borderline hypocritical tone was really getting on Eliza's nerves. "I wasn’t being stupid. I was prioritizing the mission over my own safety. Something that I’ve seen you do a lot of times, if you yourself have forgotten."

"I always do that. I also know that there’s the mission, and there’s the mission after that. I approach these things with a cool head, you should try that sometimes."

"Really? You’re so detached? As if you wouldn’t have done this differently a few months ago?" Ash didn't really want to bring something as personal as this up, but seems like this time the gloves were off.

Jordan felt his temper flare up and threw the cigarette out of the window. "Really? You’re gonna use this now? It’s just the two of us, why don’t you speak without bullshit?"

It's almost like this entire situation had come down to this question. "Fine. Do treat me differently out there, now that we’re sleeping with each other?"

"What’s the matter with you? What, you get some sick satisfaction from trying to kill yourself and knowing I won’t let you? Because we fucked a few times? You’re getting off on this or something, messing with my head?" His words were said once, but rang out again and again in her head.

"Wow. Fuck you." She put as much weight in it as she could.

"I wish we hadn’t. You’re clearly goddamn crazy." He did the same.

"I think it’s time for you to leave me alone, Jordan."

"I will. But next time you act like a goddamn child on the field, I'll make sure the team knows who might put them in danger."

Eliza, who was fixated on observing the rain droplets on the window, snapped her head towards him. "I put people in danger? You are the LAST person who should lecture me on-"

"Don't change the subject. It's like you're playing soldier, convinced you're invulnerable. What if next time one of your stunts actually costs us something? I don't care about myself, but what if we have to bury one of our teammates? Have you ever felt that, actual loss of lives?"

Ash took a deep breath, barely holding on not to yell at him. "Jordan, I know you have more combat experience. I've read your file, the things you've done…a whole lot of people should be grateful. But don't for a _second_ think that I haven't had to make sacrifices. I've made mistakes that I regret more than anything, that haunt me to this very day."

"You think that just because Six has picked you as her confidant, for fuck knows what reason, you can make any and all decisions on the field and let others clean up after you?" Thermite's voice had adopted clear undertones of irritation and maybe just something else more personal.

Eliza was so taken aback that she couldn't help but let out a surprised chuckle. "Really, Jordan? Is that what this is about now? You're attacking me because Six trusts me more? Is this whole thing about fighting for teacher's attention?"

Jordan's evident anger glimmered in his eyes.

She knew she had found a weak spot, and pressed on. "I knew you were jealous. I mean, why wouldn't you be? More combat experience, chest full of medals, more time as a field agent, born American and yet she picks some girl from Israel, no time served in the US military. That has to sting. Guess she simply saw some flaws."

The Texan took an big step forward, trying to drive her to back off away, his gaze burning even deeper, but she didn't move. "Fuck you. You've never had to fight for anything in your life."

Eliza crossed her arms, now rigid from the fury herself. "Just because I made the mistake of letting you fuck me a few times, doesn't give you the right to make those kinds of assumptions about me. Ever. And you can knock off that intimidation bullshit. I'm not one of the recruits, you don't scare me."  

Jordan felt his head pulsating from rage, eyes narrow and silently studying her, wanting to wipe the hints of a smirk off her face, though even now he could recognize that attempting to intimidate Eliza Cohen is as futile as trying to keep the sun from rising.

His lips formed a smirk of his own, just as malicious as hers. "Fuck it. I ain't gonna fall for this. Have fun lying to yourself."

"I'd rather lie to myself than listen to you insult both my experience and my character. So please, get the fuck out of here and find a place to sleep far away from me."

Jordan let out a spiteful chuckle. "Trust me, I'm not that desperate. I'm going for a drink. Safe to say you're not welcome."

"Choke on it."

"Oh, I know quite well how much you like choking on things."

Before she could snap back a deeper insult, Eliza's phone vibrated. Jordan took it as a chance to give her one last poisonous look and walk out to join the others, leaving her to a rather unpleasant phone call that came from Six. When his teammates inquired about Eliza's whereabouts, he just shrugged his shoulders, leaving his teammates puzzled but unwilling to press further. But their exchange in that heated moment still rang out in Thermite's head, and as he was hoping, in hers too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I made you wait so long for an update. I had work stuff, plus the writing went pretty slow. I hope that Endorphins made up for it at least a little bit.  
> I wanted to write an argument between Ash and Thermite for quite a while. This will definitely carry over to the next chapter, and they may or may not try to get over it in a very smutty fashion. I will try to write and post a new chapter in the first two weeks of November.  
> A thousand thank yous for the wonderful support both here and on tumblr. This story now has 9 chapters because of you.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though some time has passed, the bitter argument between Ash and Thermite is still present, neither of them willing to ignore their pride and make the first step to reconcile.

They hadn't talked for weeks. If was enough to make the most observant teammates ask questions, though most of them hoped it was a small disagreement that they'd work out eventually.

It was a typical monthly briefing with Six. As per usual, for a meeting that wasn't urgent, only a few of the members were present so that they could relay the info further to their teammates later. While Team Rainbow didn't have a strict chain of command, the people in the room formed a de facto leadership of sorts. Apart from Six, crowd consisted of Thatcher, Montagne, Tachanka, Ash, Thermite, IQ, Capitao, Valkyrie, Buck, Jackal, Hibana and Zofia. While the newer additions to the team were highly respected and trusted, they still had to truly prove themselves to be accepted at the big kid's table.

Ash was sipping on her lukewarm coffee. It was an early and uneventful morning, but she liked to be present for these meetings, to always be in the loop if nothing else. She and Thermite usually sat side by side, occasionally whispering snarky remarks or ideas to each other, but this time, he opted to sit in front of her. She couldn't help but glance at him from time to time. He was twisting his own coffee cup between his fingers, looking at the bottom of it like he'd find gold there. Jordan's eyes looked weary and it seemed like he hadn't gotten enough sleep. Eliza sometimes wondered whether he drank too much. Not being the one to judge, she and most of Team Rainbow indulged in their own vices, each had their own poison, but Jordan's utter professionalism and attention to details at work sharply contrasted with the mess of his off duty life.

Her anger at him after their disagreement following the botched mission in Florida was still present. But they still had to work together, and she saw him nearly every day for the past two weeks, apart from their days off when he seemed to disappear without a trace. And when they did see each other, the tension simmering in the air was almost visible with naked eye. Both Jordan and Eliza were too proud, too stubborn to give each other anything more than a shared look instead of saying "hello" and basic phrases during training. They hadn't been in field together after that last time, and perhaps it was a blessing. One wonders how'd they do without their usual chemistry. Would they be responsible enough to cast their issues aside? It's a question that shouldn't be asked on the field, where a single misstep could cost lives. The two operators were so similar in this way, in the arrogance and ego that didn't let them admit they've been wrong and apologize. Their personalities were the reason why when things were good, they were really fucking good. But, when things were bad…

"Then they can sit on their asses while we protect their city!" a heavy Russian accent reminded her this wasn't the time to ponder.

Six's look was understanding, but she shook her head in a typically stern fashion. "Mr Senaviev, I understand your position and I'm sure your colleagues would agree. But we can't do a raid in an apartment house in the middle of Brussels without the okay from NATO and the Belgian government. They insist they have a handle on things and we will go when we're called."

The heavyset Russian dismissively waved his hand, puffing in frustration.

"Now, I trust that our course of action in this case is understood. One last thing – are we all in favor of the plan Operator Cohen presented with regards to the raid that will be executed in Mexico? I'm sure you've all gone over it and gave your okay, but-"

"I had a question." Jordan spoke up in a gruff voice for the first time this morning. He cleared his throat and leaned towards on the table, occupying space, a usual tactic of his. "Are we sure we want to use tear gas to flush them out and leave them to the snipers? You see, if we want to capture the head honcho instead of ventilate his head, we could benefit from a closer approach. Chaos tends to get overbearing and the fuc-the target could just slip away. A close quarters entry would be more difficult and sure, dangerous, but we'd have more control over the situation."

 _Asshole. He had no complaints about this before._ Eliza already opened her mouth to defend the plan, but was stopped by Six's raised finger.

Six appraised Jordan for a bit. "I'm curious why you brought your concerns up only now, not during the early stages of the planning. The numbers will be on their side. Enough that we should err on the side of caution. Glazkov will be operating with tranquilizer darts and pacifying the high value target at the first opportunity. The area allows for good overwatch, and while they can hold out in the house, they can't run away unseen. Unless they have tunnels, which, by our intel, is false."

Jordan still wasn't satisfied. "I understand that it sounds easy on paper, but there's a ton of things that can go haywire. If we studied the blueprints of the area carefully and approached from the ground, we could make sure it's done right and we end up with the bastard alive and ready to spill."

"There will be a ground team, Mr.Trace. One that will complement our snipers and aerial assault. And, rest assured, you'll be on it to make sure things don't go wrong. Or are you doubting Mr.Glazkov's marksmanship?"

"You shouldn't," Tachanka chimed in. Curtly.

"It's alright, Six," Ash couldn't sit silent anymore. "I think Trace is just upset he won't get to blast in and punch the target in the face."

That earned her chuckles from the room, even an understated one from Six, and daggers glared by Thermite, their first genuine eye contact in about a dozen days.

"I know, Cohen, how hard is it for you to imagine anyone thinking you're wrong. It happens all the time though, so you should learn to deal with it."

Jordan's tone had the rest of the team throwing worrying gazes at each other. Meanwhile, Ash was holding his, full of challenge and silent fury. Before she could make this more personal, Gilles chimed in, the shield operator always ready to defuse heavy situations.

"May I propose a break? It's early and we've been sitting here for at least an hour. I'm sure fresh air would do us some good. Either that, or some nicotine," Montagne glanced at Thermite, who was still in a staring match with Ash. "Eliza, I'm sure Jordan didn't mean it personal, it's just that the best plans are born out of arguments, no?"

If only the Frenchman knew how personal things were.

Six nodded at Touré, almost thankfully. "My plane is taking off in an hour, I don't have much time here either way. But you're right. We've covered everything we needed to cover. I'm going to adjourn this meeting. Please brief your colleagues and proceed with your daily activities. And, Mister Trace, I always value your input, but I don't see the reason why we would completely change the approach to the Mexico operation this late in the planning stage. Have we agreed?"

Jordan grunted something in response.

"Mister Trace, I know it's an early morning, but I'm sure I deserve at least a single word for an answer."

"Yes, ma'am. I'm good."

Six was about to gather her materials, but paused and looked at the operators in front of her again. "I just wanted to know, it's a pleasure to see you all. I know we've had some close calls recently. The job is the job, but your well being is of extreme importance to me. Please, if you have any issues, you know how to find me."

The operators responded affirmatively, more than a few giving her a genuine smile. Six was a stern and an uncompromising leader, but she always cared about the safety of the team. Everyone knew she lost more than her fair share of her sleep, worrying about the missions she sent Team Rainbow on. She had an open door policy and anyone could come to her with their issues and ideas. The woman always listened to anything that was a genuine problem and told it how it is, didn't mince words. It's why everyone on the team respected her immensely, despite their personal achievements and egos. Even an angry Jordan Trace knew when to fold when it came to Six.

Six's personal security detail entered the room and that was a signal for the operators that their briefing was done. Jordan left the room first and alone, followed by the others, mostly paired up and chatting about the tasks at hand. Ash was listening to Zofia's opinions about their afternoon breaching exercise, though she was hardly processing anything her teammate said.

Where did Jordan get the fucking nerve? They had gone over the plan of the future raid several times, even just the two of them, and he never felt like disagreeing with the approach in general, only a few minor aspects that deserved to be perfected. But now he felt like arguing for the sake of it? Or did he actually hope to make Eliza look incompetent in front of the team? As if he wanted to prove he was better suited to lead.

These thoughts didn't leave Ash even as she was sitting in the mess hall, staring at the half empty cup of coffee in front of her, running her thumb over the stained ceramic. Ash felt lithe steps approaching her, and while she didn't look up, she recognized the sneakers as being suspiciously similar to the type worn by Monika Weiss.

"Hey, Eliza. Busy?" A slightly accented voice confirmed her guess.

She forced herself to look up and give IQ a slight smile. The German operator was one of her closest friends in the team, both woman seeing eye to eye on many occasions. "Not at all, Monika. Feel free to have a seat."

The blonde woman took up the stool in front of Ash. Her forehead was slightly sweaty, short hair clinging to the skin, and she was wearing a green tracksuit – a clear indicator that IQ had just finished a workout session.

"How was the run?"

IQ brushed back her hair from her forehead. "Did the job. Wanted to get some exercise before I leave the base for the night. Gonna clear my head. Well, that – and I needed to talk to you."

Ash tried to feign surprise, but she had expected this. IQ wasn't only observant when it came to electronics. "To me? About the briefing?"

"No. Well, kind of. About what happened in the briefing."

 _Here we go._ Ash made the first move. "Look, if it's about Jordan and me, it's nothing to worry about. We argue all the time, you know that."

IQ looked down on the empty coffee cup and then back at Ash. "I know, but it's not really what I meant. You two argue, sure, but it's different, like a married couple, you know?"

Ash nearly choked on the remnants of her coffee, but Monika pretended not to notice and continued. "And, well, the last few weeks, you two have been, how should I put this, bitter distant from each other?"

Ash forced herself to chuckle. "Distant? Monika, I appreciate concern, but me and him don't need to be attached at the hip to work together."

Monika leaned towards her, aware of some of the security detail eating their lunch at the nearest table. "You know what I mean, Eliza. You always trained and went over intel together, _scheisse_ , I even saw you drinking a beer in here almost every evening. Now you don't exchange a word unless you have to and I haven't seen you two at the range at the same time ever since that op that went bad down in Florida."

Ash already opened her mouth to dismiss everything, but the words caught in her throat. Who else could she talk to? And IQ wasn't one for gossip, at least, as far as she was aware. "Okay. Me and Jordan had a disagreement during that op in Florida. I won't go into details, but it got heated. Serious enough so that we don't really talk. I don't think he's gonna apologize and I sure as hell won't either. Happy now?"

Monika leaned back, crossed her arms and smirked. "Very. Now you two are gonna go and talk this out like adults. We don't want to head into the field next week with two team leaders who are playing the silent game."

"I'm glad you finally found a sense of humor, Monika."

"I'm serious. I'm not the only one who has noticed, by the way."

Ash looked away, knowing that her German colleague was absolutely right. "We're professional enough not to let it interfere. Don't worry about it."

IQ stood up with a sigh, then looked back. "I see there's no point in trying to convince you. But, Eliza…I have to say that I think he cares about you a lot. So, whatever he said, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

She let the most important part of Monika's words fly over her head. "I'll see how it is after the two days off. But thank you for asking. You know you can come to me when you need it as well."

"Get some rest. I know I will," IQ parted with a rare smile.

Eliza finished another coffee cup and, in order to avoid being a target to any more questions, left the mess hall to stretch her legs. Though her hopes turned out to be in vain.

"Oi, Cohen? Minute of your time?" Gruff British accent rang out behind her, unquestionably belonging to Mike Baker.

Ash turned around to face the man, dressed down to jeans and a simple T-shirt, and, surprisingly, with the broad-shouldered form of Oliver Flament hovering behind him. "Mike. Olivier. What's the matter?"

"Won't hold you here long. Just a few things. First, the plan we discussed this morning was perfectly fine. I went over it alone in detail and found nothing we should change before the op. So, don't listen to Trace. For someone as smart as he is, he can be a real muppet."

Eliza gave him a warm smile. Praise from Thatcher was valued immensely and the man was great at giving support, whether he acknowledged it or not. "Thanks. I know. I'm sure Jordan just wanted to make sure we've considered all the options."

"Right, right. The other thing is, if you see Emma, tell her we're in the killhouse, running over some cover tactics. She wanted to talk about something earlier."

Ash let her eyes drift to Lion and back, and raised her eyebrow. "I gotta say, it's nice to see you two talking after that little boxing match you had earlier."

"That thing? Oh, it was an eternity ago, you know how we measure time in this line of work, Cohen. Besides, the lad did good in that bloody op in the States. Laying down cover fire tends to bring people together."

"I saved his ass." Lion finally spoke up, a self satisfied smirk decorating his handsome face.

Thatcher gave him a side eye, but mirrored his smirk. "Sure you did. You know how it is, Eliza. Positive reinforcement and all." The Brit gave her a good-natured wink and motioned for Lion to follow him. "Alright, we're off. Tell Jordan he's a jackass on my behalf."

"What makes you think I'm gonna...yeah, sure. Don't need to ask me twice," she tried to emphasize the sarcasm in her voice. 

Ash waited for the two men to leave, sighed and leaned against the wall. She was itching for a fight, but a different kind than usually went on here.

An hour later, the same itch was just as adamant even after her third beer at her trusty corner in the mess hall. Eliza was playing with the bottle cap, flirting with the scenario of finding Jordan and throwing everything he said back to his face.

So she went. She wanted to turn back multiple times, but couldn't. Even when not present, he still had a hold on her.

It was a few minute trip to the quarters upstairs. She went up to his room, thinking that perhaps he had left the base, silently hoping he hadn't.  She extended her arm to knock, paused for a second, and then made the decision.

No answer. She pounded again.

"I'm busy," an irritated Texan drawl rang out behind the door.

"I know you're not."

The silence grew and she could hear her heartbeat pound.

"What do you want?" his tone was quick and sharp, like a bark.

"Are you so scared you're going to talk through the door?"

She instantly heard steps towards the door. Jordan pulled it open with irritation that clearly showed on his face. "And here I thought I'm the one with no manners. What do you want?"

"Let me in."

"Like hell I will."

"Jordan, I know you're not dumb enough to not know why I'm here. Do you really want to do this outside?"

He glared at her and stepped aside, back into the room. "Fine. Only if you're gonna get out quick."

She stormed past him in his quarters and slammed the door shut, turning the lock with a deft click. Thermite's room was simple and way less messy than you'd expect it to be. His laptop was open on the table as he evidently had been going through intel. She spotted his workout clothes, hung on the bedpost, looking just recently used. Jordan was very adamant about his workout routines. Sick, hungover, hell or high water, he always got his reps done, the discipline likely gotten from his time in the Marines.

Jordan's malicious chuckle made her lock eyes with him again. "Huh. Quick to feel like home. You do think you own everything here, don't you?"

Eliza frowned, her hands on her hips. "At least I don't throw my colleagues under the bus."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He was feigning ignorance.

"We had discussed this, all the way down to what we were gonna eat when the mission is done. But NOW you have problems?"

"It's just a debate. Don't take it so personally."

Ash could feel a flush creeping up her face. "Goddamnit, Jordan, insult me any way you want, but don't play stupid. You know how much I hate it."

"How come you're the only one who flips her shit whenever someone criticizes her?"

She took a step closer to him. Despite the size difference, they stood as equals, as if they were circling each other, trying to anticipate the next move.

 "I flip my shit when someone tries to get back at me professionally for something that's strictly between us."

"If I wanted to get back at you, you'd be put on leave right now."

"Like hell I would. As if she'd take your word over mine."

Jordan's eyes were glaring daggers, and she found a certain amount of pleasure at pissing him off. "Why are you here anyway? You get off on messing with my head or something?"

"Oh, so you _do_ give a damn. Good." That made her proud. The fact that she had just as much of an effect on him. The she wasn't the only one losing her mind.

They stood toe to toe together now. Another woman would perhaps be intimidated, but Ash always seemed to revel in having the odds stacked against her. She wanted to push him, to break the physical barrier, despite how stupid and childish that would be.

Something set ablaze in Jordan's eyes, but he kept calm, crossing his arms, the shifting of muscles in his arms inadvertently catching her attention. "What, you want to actually _fight_ , Cohen? I know that's what you’re into, I’m not gonna oblige you."

"Then do SOMETHING! Don’t just stand there with that fucking look you always have, like nothing gets to you!"

She could notice something going over his face, a sentiment she couldn't quite put her finger on. "That’s not quite right."

"Is it? You always seem to be above everyone else. You're an egomaniac who can't stand not being in charge," Eliza knew she was stepping over the line, but she couldn't make herself hold back.

"And you crack whenever someone questions you. I thought you were stronger than that."

The air around them was electrifying. Something was pounding in her head and those sure weren't the few beers she had back in the mess hall.

The lack of his reaction angered her even more and this time, she swung to slap him, but he caught it. "You should change up your moves, ‘Liza."

Ash knew he was going to catch it. She wasn't even trying to hurt him, just provoke a reaction, get him riled up, make him feel something.

They did a good enough job of hurting each other non-physically, after all.

Thermite couldn't stop his eyes drifting down to her lips for a second. Maybe he was incapable of it, maybe he didn't even try.

He wouldn't take the upper hand. She wouldn't let him.

Eliza kissed him as fiercely as she's ever had, almost as an attack that he had no intentions of avoiding. So hard it would've hurt if they had given a damn. It was a relief, all the tension, unspoken rivalry and suppressed passion coming undone. She felt his scarred fingers tighten against the skin of her wrist, the physical contact finally unlocking something inside him.

Jordan had told himself that he wouldn't let her wrap him around her finger. He would tell her to get out, that he had no intentions of serving as a release for her.

So why was he responding, pressing his lips against hers, mirroring her intensity?

She let out a moan, feeling his tongue against hers, a spark from the fire unraveling between them, and he understood why.

It was a stormy barrage, each of them trying to grab the upper hand, their kisses messy, primal. Jordan took the chance to establish control over it, grabbing a hold of her body as if claiming it, pressing Eliza against the nearby wall, hard enough so that he could feel her breath hitch.

Thermite went in for the kill, shifting down to ravage her neck with hungry, open-mouthed kisses and bites, leaving visible marks in places that would definitely be seen tomorrow. He wanted people to ask questions. Wanted her to blush and make up an excuse. Wanted her to think about him every time she saw her reflection.

Eliza dug her fingers in his shoulder and grabbed his crotch, knowing well that Jordan liked it when she was unashamedly bold. She noticed the confirmation of that, feeling his arousal through the jeans and her self satisfaction grew tenfold. She bit her lip, the exquisite memories of how he felt inside her coming back like a shock wave.

"Get your cock hard."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Don't tell me you don't like it."

Two could play at that game. Jordan swiftly opened her pants, no teasing or ceremonies. After briefly rubbing her through the underwear with strong, determined fingers and murmuring appreciatively when feeling the already moist fabric, he slipped his hand possessively under the waistband of her panties.

He pushed a thick finger inside, and Ash felt her cheeks burn as he encountered practically no resistance. Curling it with precision that she cursed so much, Thermite made her buck against his hand against her best intentions.

"Surprise, surprise. I've barely touched you and you're dripping wet." His Texan drawl in her ear was practically cheating. She felt herself starting to bend to his commands.

She wasn't going to go down without a fight. Eliza buckled open his belt and snaked her hand underneath his underwear. He was half hard, his cock already straining against the fabric. She took his hot flesh in hand and felt his breath hitch, his hands momentarily tightening on her body. A moment of vulnerability. A point for her.

Thermite growled and, with sudden and dominating movements, grabbed a hold of her leg and wrapped it around his hips, lifting her up and pushing her against the wall. With the same authority, he grabbed her wrist that was pumping at his length, squeezed it just enough to make her let go and pushed it against the wall above her, as if disarming her of a weapon. This was a fight after all, though a different kind.

Jordan pushed another finger in her cunt, working at her, just enough to wind her up but not to give her anything too much. Even that was enough to force a moan out of Ash, a much welcomed sound to his ears.

"C'mon, Liza," he whispered, sucking on one of the bite marks he made. "You're easier than I thought."

The words added more gasoline to the fire. She reached down with her other arm, cupped a handful around his balls and squeezed, lightly, but enough to make him freeze at once. "You haven't learned, have you, Jordy? If I wanted to, I could have you crawling around on your knees."

She wanted to provoke him and it did the job. He pulled her panties down completely and manhandled his cock out of his own underwear. Jordan teased her at first, pressing his throbbing erection against her heat, just enough to made her legs go weak. She wanted to tell him how much she missed this. How it kept crossing her mind over and over again, even while she was angry at him. She couldn't.

However, the sheer tension eating away at them was stronger than any wish to play games.

"Don't you hold back." He whispered, teeth at her ear. "I want you to remember how you sound when I fuck you."

With that, he buried himself in her, slowly but surely, stretching her out until he was inside completely, to the point where Eliza thought she's gonna pass out. The sensation was almost too much, even for her. The fact that he evidently knew pissed her off more than anything, she could almost feel Jordan's infuriating smirk pressed against her skin. Weeks of pressure and unspoken animosity, finally released. And, as if right on cue, her obscene moan rang out across the room, maybe through the entire floor. Though they couldn't care less if someone noticed. Right now, nothing else existed.

She felt him move back and drive himself inside once more, brushing against the spot that drove her wild. The entire world apart from their bodies dissipated and she cursed him under her breath.

"Uhhh, _fuck_ -"

"There you go." He deliciously snarled in her ear, though evidently out of breath, his body set ablaze by just how tight she felt around him. "That's what you wanted, right? Me inside you, no matter what?"

Eliza was still overwhelmed by how goddamn deep he was in her, but she found the strength to grab onto the back of his neck and sink her nails in the skin there. He drew back and slammed into her again, the redhead's long, loud moan was victory music to his ears.

Jordan took on a punishing pace, lifted her body up as if it was nothing and drove her against the wall again with sheer force. They could hear the sound of something clanking against the floor from the nearby shelf, though that was so far out of their concern that it might've as well happened on another planet.  

They moved against each other now,  animalistic but sync. It was their own perfect crash. Giving and taking without concern. The insistent desperation made them forget any rhythm and sense, the only thing that mattered was seizing as much as possible, using, forgetting, feeling. They took so much from each other. Like addicts, at this moment it was unfathomable that they could ever be separated.

Jordan wanted to get to her breasts, trying to tug the material of her green button-up shirt and tank top. She pulled at his greying hair, hard, to remind him that he wasn't the only one in control.

He let out a sound that was something between a laugh and a moan and looked at her with dark, hungry eyes. "Let me."

She mirrored the same desire in her stare.

As if on command, Thermite ripped apart half of her shirt and pulled away her tank top and bra. He closed his mouth over her now exposed breasts, teeth grazing a nipple, then biting the warm skin just enough and sucking an angry mark. The man was an artist at this craft. With no small amount of pride, she reveled in his desire, the ability to make him lose his mind.

Having successfully shifted her attention, he took the chance to make her cry out again, taking control of her hips and fucking her with deep, rough strokes.

"Ah, fuck, oh god-" Eliza's moan was loud, so loud they were convinced that people in the nearby rooms would've caught it. Jordan immediately covered her mouth with his hand, only to be met with a bite. He withdrew it with a swear and met her eyes, part questioning, part aroused to no end.

She ran her tongue over her lips, giving him a wanton look. "Let them hear. I don't care."

"Fuck, you're such a slut for me." Thermite's lips formed a filthy smirk and, as if challenging her, he withdrew and thrust in her again, roughly.

Contradicting her claim, like a gambler that got her bluff called, Ash instinctively pressed her face to his shoulder, sinking her teeth into it to cover still audible cry. She clawed her fingers across his back for dear life, digging in his still clothed body. Driven more and more unhinged by pleasure, she grabbed at his shirt and felt something tear. The redhead dragged down her nails against his now exposed skin, indulging his most basic instincts, making him tighten his grip on her body. It was almost too much, a primal display of greed by both parties.

Jordan could feel her being close to the brink, her legs locking tightly around him, fingers clawing at his skin, shameless moans and curses spilling out of her mouth.

"Say my name when you come for me," he growled in her ear as he took her over the edge.

He could hear her oblige him as Eliza was enraptured by her release, a myriad of sensations hitting her all at once. The same passion that made her push and prod him before, made her pull him as close as she could right then. The feeling of her tightening around him, punctuated by the sounds that left her mouth, made Jordan lose all semblance of self control. He drove inside her with zero inhibitions, taking her through her own orgasm, but needing to have more, needing to have her in every single way he could.

The release hit him so hard that we was taken off balance, clutching and holding onto her body as if she would ground him, whispering incoherently in her ear about how fucking good she felt.

With heavy breathing, blissful gaps and murmurs, they found neither will nor strength to move. Ash foggily remembered that she was supposed to be angry at him, that she needed to get away from the man to prove a point, but she just couldn't find the resolve.

Jordan was barely holding up, his face pressed against the sweaty skin of her chest. His voice was breathy. "I'm gonna-"

"Shut up," she murmured back.

He let out a tired laugh. "Make me."

He tried to mentally brush off her gasp and the way she squeezed the back of his neck as he withdrew himself. They slowly slid down the wall, together, until finding enough footing to separate themselves from the tangled, half-dressed mess that was their bodies. He groggily lifted himself away from Ash to sit down next to her. For a minute, the only sound in the room was them catching their breaths, until someone had to break the silence.

Thermite cleared his throat. "'Liza, I-"

"Just don't."

"I reckon you don't want to rush out there looking like you've been put through the wringer of your life, so you ain't got a choice but to listen."

She opened her mouth to snap something back, but a little voice in her conscience told her to stop and listen to what he has to say.

"I ain't gonna lie, I've been a dick to you and it has been eating away at me for a while. I had no business trying to start a fight this morning. But you can't look in my eyes and honestly tell me you can't see where I was coming from after that stupid fucking op."

Ash took a moment to process it and turned to look at him. Instantly, she felt herself taken aback by how intensely he was focused on her. He looked like a post-sex mess, but his grey eyes were as sharp as ever.

She couldn't take it and turned away to focus on the wall at the other side of the room. "Do you really want to talk about it now?"

"'Liza, I'm tired of dancing around this. I'm tired of both of us being so fucking stubborn. I just want to put this to rest now. I don't care if you hate me afterwards."

Something about the way he said it jolted Eliza to attention and she locked eyes with him again. "Hate? I never hated you."

She could see his face relax and light up a bit. "Alright."

"I hated the way you made me feel though."

"What do you mean?" His tone was underlined with concern.

"Like everything I've ever done gets wiped away because of one stupid decision. Like suddenly I'm not competent to do what I've been doing my entire life." Ash couldn't mask the slight shake in her voice.

"So you admit you made a stupid decision?"

"Jordan, for fuck's sake…"

"-because if you don't, none of this has a point."

"You think I didn't beat myself up about it? That wasn't fully aware I could've gotten us both killed? You think I wanted to look you in the eyes after that fuckup? I just wanted ten goddamn minutes to myself before getting shit dumped all over me."

He was silent for a while, a rare occasion, before looking down on the floor. "And that was _my_ mistake for the night. I could've just let you made your case. Instead…look, 'Liza, I was a major fucking asshole. What can I say."

"Can I make my case now?"

"I guess I owe you that."

She closed her eyes for a bit and inhaled, focused again at that one spot in the wall she found inexplicably interesting all of a sudden. "Back in LA, don't remember how many years ago exactly, we had a rather simple op: the team was given a location of a known terrorist cell, our objective was to kill or capture all of them. All hell broke loose and one of them managed to escape. We wanted to chase after him, but were ordered to stand down: risk of gunfire in the streets hitting civilians and whatnot. The next day, he takes a vest and detonates it in a full bus. 40 people dead, just like that."

Jordan clenched his fist. "I heard about it. Fuck me, I didn’t know it was your op."

"Well. It was before we met. So that's why I didn't want to let the bastard go. I honestly don't know how I would've handled it if something like that happened again. But I do know that I should've been up front with you."

Without hesitating, Jordan reached out and squeezed her shoulder. His hand was strong and much welcomed, the sheer intimacy of his gesture, somehow almost as strong as what had unfolded before, sent warmth throughout her entire body and made her want to scoot closer.

"I'm sorry. You can never get used to this shit, no matter how much you try."

She found herself smiling, genuinely, for the first time in weeks. "Thanks. I haven't forgotten that I said some things to you that night. I have apologies to make as well."

"Don't worry. I know better than to listen to you when you're angry."

 _Always the smartass_. "Don't fucking ruin this, Jordan."

"Sorry. I'll be silent and just sit here on the comfy floor all night."

"Speak for yourself. I need a shower."

Jordan flashed her a sheepish smile. "Oh, right. Well, I've said what I needed to say. You can leave now if you want to."

She felt his hand sliding off her shoulder, and instinctively moved to catch and hold it in place, squeezing it for affirmation. "Hey. After I have that shower, wanna go downstairs and grab a coffee or something stronger?"

Thermite brushed his thumb against the top of her hand, a curious sensation of his roughly textured skin against hers, his tired but warm smile a silent answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologize for the wait. The various holidays, my new job and the regular writer pains made this break longer than I wanted. But yay, two hours before 2019 I managed to finish it! Now to get ready for the party!
> 
> This not only marks my longest chapter yet at over 6K words, but it also is the tenth chapter in this story overall. I want you to know that there's no way in hell I could've reached ten chapters without your support and feedback. So you are much more important than you realize. And I want to give a special shoutout to the FuckYeahRainbowSix discord (you know who you are). You guys have always been there and given support, ideas and just cheered me up when needed. 
> 
> Happy New Year!


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